Naruto the Unusual Harem
by marshalanime
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, son of Minato Namakazi and Kushina Uzumaki, will become strong and rebuild the Uzumaki clan but in order to do that he'll need a lot of help and a lot of lovely girls. Harem of the unpopular pairings. Don't expect to see Hinata or Sakura being added.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello again! I've come up with yet another story idea and for once it's not a crossover! Basically the general idea is to make a harem using only characters you rarely ever see as love interests such as Hokuto, Toki, Fuka, and Yakumo. With that said I'm sorry to all Hinata and/or Sakura fans who read my stories. Their pairings are to popular to qualify them for the harem.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the story!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Konoha was the shinobi center of the Land of Fire. It was a village that could lay claim to many things, its Hokage who have watched over the village since its beginning, lively and happy citizens, and it's academy that trained the future generation of shinobi.

Walking out of the convenience story closest to her home was one of the many shinobi hopefuls who attended the academy, a plastic bag holding her purchases hanging in her right hand. It wasn't anything to write home about her parents spent a lot of time working so usually it was just her for super so she usually just pigged out on snacks or heated up the occasional premade meal.

She was a rather attractive girl for her age, sporting purple hair that was cut off at chin length save for the bangs on the left side of her face that stretched down to the slight bulges of her B-cup breasts. Her attire consisted of a darl blue blouse that had a yellow and pink vertically stripped cloth covering the front that she had tied around her neck and waist. To cover her long legs she wore a red skirt that nearly reached her knees and dark blue shinobi sandles that came up to her mid-shin.

As the sun lowered and the blue sky began to change to a vibrant orange she shut her brain off and let her legs carry her along the same path home she'd been using for years. She didn't quite know what it was but live had become so, so boring. Everyday it was the same thing, she got up in the morning, got ready for school, tried to stay awake through class, hung out with her friends, and then headed home to repeat it all again the next day.

Coming to an intersection this girl who found herself trapped in a rut encountered something to push her out of it. With a thud the girl was on her back, staring up at the clear sky above as the contents of her bag rolled across the ground.

"Ow" the girl hissed out as she pushed herself into a sitting position with her right arm while rubbing the back of her head with her other arm. Glancing around the fist thing she noticed was the food around of her, half of which had fallen out of their containers and spilled all over the ground. "Shit!" the girl cussed as she scrambled to salvage what she could.

Hearing someone moving behind her she spun around to grab who ever it was and pulled them to eye level as she stood on her knees. "Hey jackass, that was my super! how are you going to make up for it, huh?" she shouted as she got in the guy's face, only for her eyes to widen as she stared into blue eyes. Those blue eyes, that blond hair and whisker marks, she knew who this was. Hell, everyone knew who he was. He's the kid everyone talked about with hushed words.

As the blond started to apologize the girl et out a quiet sigh as she pushed him back to the ground. "Forget it" she breathed out as she got to her feet. Nothing good would come of this if she stayed any longer. She'll just head back to the shop and get some more food.

Pushing himself up the blond was ready to yell at the girl for pushing him when he saw her walking away. Is she really going to make that big of a fuss and then just walk away, like nothing had happened? "Why don't you come to my house?" the words flowed out f his mouth before he even thought about them. At first he was sure that saying that was a mistake, that she's just laugh at him for asking, but she simply stopped walking away.

After a pause the girl looked over her shoulder, "And why would I do that?". The tone in her voice, it didn't come off as mocking or have any anger behind it but rather, she was curious.

With a bit of surprise and hope a wide grin formed on the blond's face as he folded his arms behind his head. "My mom's a really good cook. I'm sure you'll love it!" the blond told her.

Thinking back on it, it was probably a stupid reason but the prospect of having a home cooked meal after so long was simply irresistible to. She'd told herself that one visit wouldn't hurt and now, well over a year later she was in the blond's room watching him pack for a protection mission his team had been assigned.

With a sigh Naruto paused in placing the supplies he had laid out on his bed into his backpack. "Ami, it's kind of hard to pack like this" the blond told the girl who's arms were wrapped around his neck.

"Don't care" Ami told him as she pressed herself into his back further. He was going to be gone for weeks guarding some bridge builder, she wasn't going to miss out on the few hours she had before he left.

"Doesn't your team have any missions today?" Naruto asked as he started filling his bag again.

Nuzzling her chin into the top of his head Ami noted that holding him like this was getting difficult. She'd always been taller than him but latly he was closing the distance, a few more months and he'll probably be taller than her. "Ishiko-sensei gave us the day off because her love life sucks" Ami told him. After having a woman like Ishiko for a sensei for nearly a year now her, Kasumi, and Fuki came to expect seeing her show up with tear stained cheeks every month or so and telling them about how she was stood up, or she was dumped, or the guy was married the whole time. Usually they sat around and comforted her for an hour or two before they got the day off whenever it happened.

"Ah" Naruto responded. It must be tough, but still, better than having a sensei that's always late.

"Hey, Naruto..." Ami began as she took her head off of his and rested it on his shoulder. When the blond turned his head o look at her she quickly leaned in to place a quick kiss on his lips. Leaning her head back she grinned as the faint blush on his cheeks, "Consider that a good luck charm!".

After getting everything packed Naruto was seen off by Ami and his mother as he went to meet up with the others at the mains gate and then ultimately heading out for the Land of Waves. As the day dragged on the four shinobi plus bridge builder spent a good portion of the walk in silence. That is until Naruto's pink haired teammate wanted to ask their charge something.

"Say... mister Tazuna" Sakura spoke up in order to get the man's attention. Next to her was the third and final genin of their squad, Sasuke Uchiha, next to him was their sensei, Kakashi Hatake with the bridge builder next to him leaving Naruto walking a few steps in front of the group.

"What is it?" Tazuna asked, sounding almost irritated.

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" the pinket asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Tazuna questioned.

Turning to her sensei, "Kakashi-sensei, there are shinobi in that country as well, aren't there?" the girl asked.

"No, there are no shinobi in the Land of Waves" Kakashi told her. "But in other countries, there are hidden villages each with their own customs and cultures where shinobi reside. To the people of this continent the existence of shinobi villages means strength, military strength. In other words that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance with neighboring countries. The shinobi villages are not controlled by any government, they're independent and have equal status. Now a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a shinobi village" Kakashi was explaining when Naruto interjected.

"What about Uzushiogakure?" the blond asked as he looked over his shoulder, getting odd looks from Sakura and Tazuna.

"Uzushiogakure was one of the first shinobi villages to be founded. They used the surrounding whirlpools that gave their nation its name to train and develop ninjutsu safely away from the outside world. Uzushiogakure was the only major settlement to be established there, but unfortunately Uzushiogakure no longer exists" Kakashi said, leaving it at that, he was sure that Kushina would've already told him about the village she was born in and didn't want to risk opening up old wounds by going on longer than needed.

"What do you mean it doesn't exist? What happened?" Sakura asked unsurprisingly curious about this new information, even if Kakashi wanted to avoid the topic.

"Well, you see-" Kakashi was begins, trying to figure out the best way to tactfully explain it when Sasuke answered for him.

"It was wiped out in the last great war" the young Uchiha said. Not what Kakashi was hoping for but at least he didn't have to say it.

"What? Wiped out!" Sakura exclaimed as her attention darted to the raven haired teen next to her.

"The Uzumaki clan that first founded the village had strong ties to Konoha. Even though Uzushio hadn't taken part in the conflict the other nations feared what would happen if they sided with our village and entered the war, so they took action before that could happen and leaving the village in ruin" Sasuke explained.

"Uzumaki?" the pinket repeated before her eyes widened. "You don't mean..." Sakura went one as her head turned to stare at her blond teammates back.

Feeling her gaze on him Naruto said "My mom was born there". Hearing that made the pinket feel like shit for pushing the topic. When she tried to apologize Naruto just shook his head before looking over his shoulder. "You don't have to apologize, it happened a long time ago" the blond told her with a grin. She still felt bad about it but for now Sakura listened to the blond.

After that the group returned to traveling in silence, albeit with a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere around them.

As they moved further away from the village they past by a small puddle, surely a common sight, though it did catch Kakashi's attention. They passed by without any problem but after their backs were turned the small pool of water warped and rose until two figures clad in gas masks and sporting two large clawed gauntlets between them, one having it on his right hand while the other wore it on his left.

With trained speed the first shinobi threw his companion at the group as a long spiked chain shot out to connect their gauntlets. Before a normal human could react they had the chain wrapped tightly around Kakashi's body and with a swift tug from both of them the chain tore through the man like tissue paper. As Kakashi's remained fell to the ground, kicking up a bloody cloud Sakura let out a startled cry as she stumbled back and Naruto let out a cry for his fallen sensei.

Just as the blond was going to rush over in some vain hope that Kakashi was alright the two assassins popped up behind him, chuckling as they narrowed their eyes. "Now it's your turn" one of them said as they moved to entangle Naruto like they had Kakashi. Reaching for his weapons pouch the blond moved to jump back, hoping he'd get out of their range before it was too late when Sasuke jumped into the action, unleashing a shiriken that pinned the chain to a nearby tree before following it with a kunai to pin his first thrown weapon into the trunk as well.

As Naruto brought his kunai out he watched as Sasuke landed on the gauntlets that were now keeping their owners at bay. Placing his hands on the gauntlets the Uchiha kicked out with his feet, using the trapped chain to his advantage to add even more of an impact as his feet slammed into the pair's faces. With their chain hindering them now they opted to detach themselves from it and split up, on of them rushing for Tazuna while the other went for Naruto.

"Honoka! Honokaaaa!" Kushina called out as she wandered around the residence. Coming to a stop at the garden at the back of her home she placed her hands on her hips and let out a huff. Where could that girl be?

Seeing Ami tossing kunai as a target pinned to the large cherry tree the red haired woman called her over. Halting her arm before the next blade left her hand the teen looked over to see the woman waving her over Ami flicked it in the tree's general direction before running over to the woman. "What do you need?" Ami asked before she came to a stop in front of the woman.

"Honoka, I haven't seen her since this morning. You haven't seen her have you?" Kushina asked.

"Oh, she went with Naruto" Ami easily answered, getting a surprised look from Naruto's mother.

"Wh-What the" the shinobi who had targeted Tazuna grunted out, his body being restrained by golden chains just before he was about to pierce through the genin standing between him and the old man with his metal claws. His partner wasn't fairing much better as he stared down the person responsible for stopping them.

Between him and Naruto was a woman with dark eyes and long, straight red hair tied into a thick braid which she wore with a white band. Her clothes consisted of a purple, sleeveless kimono blouse with yellow trimmings held close by a traditional obi with a long, streaming bow tied to it, having mesh armor underneath, and wearing a short white skirt with nothing covering her legs or feet.

"H-Honoka?" Naruto questioned as he found himself staring at the woman's back. Since when and how was she here? Looking over her shoulder the teen gave him a warm smile and a quick nod.

"I suppose I should thank you for that" Kakashi said, directing everyone's attention up to the tree branch he was kneeling on.

"Kakashi-sensei!? But" Sakura was surprised as she from the man to where his remains should be only to see a pile of sliced wood. "A substitution" the pinket commented with a few blinks as she put two and two together.

Jumping down the silver haired shinobi began to casually walk over to the group, noticing the scowl Honoka was giving him. "I would've stepped in if they needed me, promise" Kakashi told the girl wit a smile, even if it wasn't obvious through his cloth mask. However, his response didn't seem to change her mood as she jerked her head to the side, her scowl still in place.

Oh well, turning his attention to the bridge builder. "Tazuna..." Kakashi said, getting a startled reaction from the man as Tazuna began sweating bluets. "We need to talk" Kakashi told him.

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the enemy shinobi asked after the pair was tied to a tree.

"...A puddle, on a clear day when it hasn't rained in weeks?" Kakashi answered with a question of his own.

"In that case why'd you leave it to the genin to do the fighting?" Tazuna asked the jounin.

"I could have taken them out quickly, but then I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was, and what they were after" Kakashi said as he stared at the bridge builder from the corner of his eye.

"Hm, what are you getting at?" Tazuna questioned.

"This," Kakashi said as he turned to face the man "I wanted to know if they were after us, shinobi attacking shinobi. Or, if they were attacking you, the master bridge builder. When you put in your request you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were shinobi looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this it would be a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was to simply get you to your destination and protect you while you completed your bridge. If we knew we'd be fielding attacks from enemy shinobi we would've staffed differently and charged for the price of a B-mission. Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is unacceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission" Kakashi told the man.

As Kakashi spoke Tazuna's head lowered, hiding his face behind the wide straw hat he wore. He knew that he had lied to them, but what choice did he have? "If we just leave him like this he'll be killed! We can't let that happen!" Tazuna heard the blond kid say.

With determination in his eyes like that Kakashi found it hard to out right refuse to continue the mission. With a sigh the jounin told the group "We'll deliver Tazuna to his home as per the mission and then determine from their if we'll continue". As the blond cheered that the mission wasn't over yet Kakashi redirected a hard look at Tazuna "I'll expect an explanation by the time we arrive". Despite the chill that ran down his spin Tazuna was still grateful that they weren't simply leaving him for dead.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! Back with chapter two! Not too much of a deviation from canon this chapter but hey, sometimes that just happens. Regardless I still hope you all enjoy the read.**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

The fog was dense as the group was being ferried to the Land of Waves aboard a small fishing boat. The man transporting them, a friend of Tazuna's, had cut the engine and was rowing them the rest of the way.

At the front of the small boat sat Honoka staring out into the deep mist. Since she'd suddenly appeared to save them the woman had traveled alongside the group. Out of everyone Sakura had become the most interested in the teen, the fact that she had yet to utter a single word peeked the pinkets curiosity.

"Sensei..." Sakura began in a hushed tone as she turned to Kakashi. When he turned his one visible eye to her she continued "Who is that woman? It seems like her and Naruto know each other".

It probably would have been better to ask Naruto about this but Kakashi figured she didn't want to pry unnecessarily into the blond's past, especially after the conversation they had earlier. "Kushina, Naruto's mother, sometimes takes him out of the village to travel. During their last trip a few months back they encountered Honoka on a strange island. There was nothing for her there, so she came back to the village with them" Kakashi gave the short version of events, no point in getting his student's head filled with spirits and experimental summoning creatures while they were on a mission.

"The bridge isn't far now. Our destinations just up ahead, the Land of Waves" the boat owner told them. Moments later the sight of the massive bridge drifted into view even with the mist that surrounded them. It was truly a sight to behold.

"Woo! It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed as he marveled at the structure. Unsurprisingly the boat owner chastised the blond for the outburst, they were after all traveling in silence for a reason. Naruto instantly covered his mouth with his hands with an apologetic expression followed shortly after with a smile from Honoka as she patted his head reassuringly.

"Tazuna," Kakashi began as he turned to the bridge builder. "Before we reach the peer I want to ask you something" when the man remained silent Kakashi went on, "The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore".

No more putting it off then, with all eyes on him Tazuna began "I have no choice but to tell you. No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said, this is beyond the original scope of the mission. The one who is after my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow".

"A deadly shadow? Hm, who is it?" Kakashi asked.

"You know him, or at least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet Gato" Tazuna says, surprising Kakashi.

"Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him" Kakashi says.

"Gato, is a very powerful tycoon, a famous company that's for sure, but below the surface with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and shinobi. It was one year ago when Gato set his sights on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation a man who controls the sea controls everything, finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears, the bridge. When it is complete it'll join us to the land and that will break his control. I, am the bridge builder" Tazuna tells them.

"So that's it, since you're building this bridge you're standing in this gangster's way" Sakura summed up.

"That mean the guy's we fought in the forest were working for Gato" Sasuke added.

"I don't understand, if you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send shinobi to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi asked the bridge builder.

"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money... The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. if you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge, they'll assassinate me before I reach home" Tazuna tells them.

Glancing up the old man then said "But don't feel bad about that. Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Grandad! I want my grandad!'" using his best 'little kid voice' in regard to what his grandson would say. "Oh, and my daughter will condemn the shinobi of Konoha, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow" Tazuna tells them. "Ah well, it's not your fault. Forget it" the man adds.

Turning to one another the shinobi all shared the same guilt ridden expression. "Well... I guess we have no choice, we'll have to keep guarding you" Kakashi says as he turns back to Tazuna and shrugs his shoulders.

"Ooh, I'm very greatful" Tazuna sincerely says while on the inside he was grinning like a mad man for getting them to continue the mission.

A little while later brought the group to a large stone wall build to break up large waves before they could reach the shore. As they went the boat slipped into one of the many tunnels built into the wall. Once they'd past through they were met with the sight of a town built around and partially over an estuary with many trees growing out of the water. Apparently the fog hadn't crept to this side of the wide stone wall they'd past through as the sun was shining and they could see without restriction. Once they were on try land the boat owner told Tazuna to be carful before starting up his motor and driving off.

Tazuna lived outside the town, so even though they were finally in the Land of Waves they still had to walk to a different part of the island. Though at least it wasn't too far away.

'The next shinobi they send wont be chunin, they'll be jounin, elite shinobi with deadly skills' Kakashi thought to himself as left the town. Scanning the immediate area the man's lone eye landed on the back of Honoka's head. Even if she wasn't suppose to be here her presence helped relieve a lot of stressed he'd otherwise have. Her skills may prove invaluable on this mission.

As they were nearing Tazuna's home Honoka walked up to the blond. From behind Sakura watched them with raised eyebrows as the red haired teen leaned in closer to the blond, their shoulders brushing up against each other every now and then. 'What are they doing? Don't they realize we're suppose to be on the look out for enemy shinobi right now?' Sakura thought to herself, oddly more irritated by the display more than she should be.

A quick glance to the side had her letting out a sigh as her eyes landed on Sasuke. 'If only me and Sasuke could be like that' the pinket thought to herself, picturing her and the Uchiha walking side by side.

Just as Sakura was pulling herself out of her thoughts her blond teammate reached into the weapon pouch wrapped around his leg. Pulling a kunai out Naruto turned to the side and tossed the weapon into a patch of bushes along the path and putting the others on edge in the process. After a moment the blond straightened himself out and relaxed his body with a confused look on his face. "Did I miss?" the blond thought aloud. Honoka let him know that they were being followed but still, you'd think he'd get a reaction if he tossed a kunai at the guy.

If nothing else the blond's question seemed to kill the tension he'd just made. As the others were grumbling or shaking their heads at the blond Kakashi went over to investigate. Pushing the brush aside the jounin found a startled white rabbit below the Kunai that was now embedded into a tree.

"Naruto! Look what you did!" Sakura angerly told the blond when she saw the poor bunny. For Naruto's part he immediately felt bad for scaring the thing half to death and rushed over to it, picking it up and cradling it while apologizing.

Kakashi however had a different reaction, a much different reaction. 'That's a snow rabbit, but the color... They only have white fur during winter, when the days are short and there's little sunlight' the silver haired shinobi thought as he looked around at the bright forest around them. 'This rabbit was raised indoors away from the light which can only be for one purpose, a substitution jutsu' looking over to Honoka he saw the woman on guard while the other were focused on the rabbit. 'So they're already hear' Kakashi thought to himself.

Hidden in the shadows of the forest a tall, muscular man with short spiky black hair watched the group. Similar to Kakashi's black mask this man's lower face was covered with white bandages. The headband he wore sideways displayed the markings of Kirigakure, marking him as a shinobi originating from that village. He wore no shirt with the only thing covering his chest being a belt that supported the massive sword on his back. The clothes he did wear consisted of baggy pants with a stripped pattern and white arm and leg warmers with a blotchy brown pattern on them.

'Hm, no wonder the demon brothers failed in their mission' the man thought as he reached up to grab the handle of his weapon. 'It's the copy shinobi from Konoha, Kakashi of the sharingan' the man thought to himself as his eyes came to focus on the silver haired man.

Feeling an oncoming attack Kakashi spun on his heel while telling everyone to get down. From the trees the massive sword of their enemy was spinning right for them, aimed to take of their heads. As the everyone ducked to avoid the blade Honoka rushed to the center of the group, golden chains erupting from her back. Shooting out in front of her the half dozen chains formed a quick barrier between the group and the sword, sending the blade tumbling back.

Jumping into the open the sword's owner grabbed its handle before it could crash against the dirt. "That technique... so You're an Uzumaki then? To think there are still some of you left in the world" the man commented as he and Honoka stared each other down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three is finished and it's time for the fight with Zabuza! Hope you all enjoy!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

"Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue shinobi of Kirigakure" Kakashi remarked as the group got back to their feet.

Turning his attention from Honoka back to Kakashi, "Kakashi Hatake of the sharingan. Did I get that right?" Zabuza said. After hearing Kakashi being linked to the sharingan Sasuke's eyes immediately darted over to his sensei. "It's too bad, but you'll have to hand over the old man" Zabuza told him as Kakashi's hand came up to grab the headband he had covering his left eye.

"Quick, manji Formation! Honoka, assist them in guarding the bridge builder!" Kakashi told them before lifting up his head band to reveal a vertical scar running over his left eye that possessed the sharingan. At his command the three genin rushed to Tazuna and took up formation with Honoka coming up behind the bridge builder and redeploying her chakra chains to set up a protective barrier around them.

"Well, looks like I get to see the sharingan, as well as the renowned special ckakra of the Uzumaki clan in action. This is an honor" Zabuza quipt as he saw the red eye. and barrier of golden chains.

"Sharingan, what is it?" Sakura asked, her curiosity getting the better of her with Sasuke being the one to answer her.

"Sharingan, a rare dojutsu. The user of this visual justsu can instantly see and comprehend any ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu and reflect the attack back on the enemy. However, there's more to the sharingan than that, much more" Sasuke explained as his mind went back to his clan. Among the few you lived through the clan's internal war and remain in the village only his mother and a small handful of now retired shinobi posses a fully developed sharingan. So why does Kakashi have one?

"You got it right boy, but you've only scratched the surface. The sharingan can analyze an opponents technique an then copy it to the smallest detail" Zabuza said as a thick fog started to roll in. "As for you jounin, in the assassination unit of Kirigakure we had a standing order to destroy you on sigh. Your profile was in our bingo book, it called you the man who's copied over a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the copy shinobi" Zabuza told him before vanishing from sight.

Moments later Sakura called out that he was standing on the nearby lake. With his arms held up in the appropriate hand signs the rogue shinobi called upon his stable technique. "Water style: hidden mist jutsu" the man called out before the thick fog grew even more dense and his form disappeared.

"He'll come after me first" Kakashi told his team.

"But... who is he?" Sakura questioned.

"Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of Kirigakure's assassination unite. He's a master of the silent killing technique" Kakashi told them.

"Silent?" Naruto asked.

"As the name suggests it happens in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. Its so fast you pass from this life without realizing what has happened. The sharingan can not fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard" Kakashi told them. Even with Honoka's barrier there's no way of knowing if it'll hold out against this opponent, not until it's to late. "Well if we fail we only lose our lives" Kakashi made a dark joke to lighten the mode which worked despite Sakura questioning how he could say something like that.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker" Naruto commented as the distance they could see shrunk more and more.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean. The swirling mists are ever present" Tazuna said as the mist grew so thick that they could no longer see Kakashi.

From the mist Zabuza's voice could be heard calling out to them. "Eight points: larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my kill point" the man said, sending a terafying chill through the group.

Bringing his hands together Kakashi let lose a surge of chakra, dispersing a good portion of the mist and allowing his team to see him again. As the man did this two chakra infused kunai came from the still lingering mist to collide with Honoka's barrier, testing its strengths. As the weapons fell harmlessly to the ground Zabuza spoke up once again, "It's said a master of the art can create a barrier that no man can break. I wonder, do you posses that kind of skill?".

When the words reached the group Zabuza dashed out from the mist, the Kubikiribocho held tightly in his hands as he swung the massive blade into Honoka's barrier. Under the weight and power of Zabuza's attack the chains buckled and sparked as the barrier strained itself but refused to yield to Zabuza'a might. Wincing from the strain Honoka redoubled her efforts as Kakashi rushed over to take on Zabuza.

Drawing a kunai Kakashi shot straight for the assassin, thrusting the blade into his unprotected abdomen. Soon after several splashed could be heard as water escaped from the wound. With a cry from Naruto the jounin was alerted to a second Zabuza behind him. With Kubikiribocho ready to kill once again the first Zabuza reverted back to water as the other swung his blade. "Die!" Zabuza shouted as he cut right through Kakashi.

However, what fell to the ground after was not a corps but another puddle of water. 'The water clone jutsu?' Zabuza thought with widened eyes. 'It can't be!... Even in the mist he saw through my illusion and copied it in an instant' Zabuza concluded as he felt the cold metal of Kakashi's weapon press up against his neck.

"Don't move" Kakashi ordered as he stood behind the rogue shinobi with a kunai ready to slice through his neck. "It's over. You're finished" the silver haired jounin told the man. When Zabuza simply began to chuckle at his statement Kakashi was put on edge.

"Finished? You really don't get it, do you?" Zabuza questioned. "Your technique is nothing but a cras imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat like you" Zabuza said as Kakashi glared at the man. With a few more chuckles Zabuza added "But you are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my water clone jutsu by the time I launched my attack. Very skilfully executed, leaving your clone out in the open while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move". "Nice try..." Zabuza said before another one appeared behind Kakashi.

"But I'm not that easy to fool" Zabuza said as the one in front of Kakashi turned to water. With split second timing Kakashi ducked under Zabuza'a attack, however that didn't mean he was save. The Kubikiribocho continued in its path until coming behind Zabuza and planting itself into the ground. Using the weapon as a perch to amplify the impact of his next strike Zabuza spun quickly and with a single kick he sent Kakashi flying into the lake. Firmly grabbing the handle once more Zabuza rushed in for another attack but came to a stop just before hitting the water. As Kakashi went sailing through the air he'd dropped iron spikes on the ground, but they did little to impede him as Zabuza simply jumped over them and dove into the water.

Seeing their sensei get hit like that understandably left an impact on the three genin.

Coming up for air Kakashi took note that the water didn't feel right, like it was heavy or dense. However he didn't have long to think about it as Zabuza ran up behind him. "Ha, fool" Zabuza mocked as he ran through hand signs. Once finished he called out the name of his water prison jutsu and entrapped Kakashi in a sphere of water.

'Escaping into the water, big mistake' Kakashi thought as he took in the position he was in.

"Hehehe, this prison is made of water but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi" Zabuza said with a low chuckle as he stared down at his trapped foe, his right hand sticking into the sphere to keep it stable. "I'll finish you off later but first, your little friends will have to be eliminated" the man said as he turned his attention back to the group.

With a single hand Zabuza summoned forth yet another water clone from the lake. 'He's even more skilled than I thought' Kakashi worriedly thought as Zabuza began to chuckle again.

"You think having a headband makes you a shinobi? When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't even phase you, then, you may be called a shinobi. When you've become so deadly your profile is entered into my bingo book, then, you may have earned the title shinobi. But to call upstarts like you shinobi, is a joke" the clone spoke before summoning forth more fog.

This was bad, the genin couldn't fight Zabuza alone and Honoka needs to concentrate on the barrier if it's to survive an attack from the man. Looks like there's no other choice. "Listen, take the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all of his power to keep me in this prison so he can only fight you with his water clone, but the clone can't go far from the real body. If you go far enough he can't follow so run!" Kakashi called out to the group.

No! They couldn't just leave him! With his hands tightening around his kunai Naruto was ready to take this guy on, but a hand coming to rest on his shoulder eased his anger. "Honoka, what is it?" the blond asked as he looked over his shoulder at the woman.

Without uttering a single word the Uzumaki girl conveyed what was on her mind as the pair stared into one another's eyes. "Got it. You want us to protect the bridge builder" Naruto said as he turned his head back forward. He wanted to get in on the action but this was their best option.

"We can't run away. We're dead if we run" Sasuke argued after hearing the blond. "Even with Honoka's protection it'd only be a matter of time before he got around her barrier" the Uchiha reasoned. Honoka was a skilled shinobi but this was beyond her capability.

"You said we're running?" Naruto asked, getting odd looks from Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna.

Turning to Tazuna Honoka stared deeply into his eyes and while the bridge builder didn't have the advantage of shinobi training even he could tell what she wanted to say. "I never hired you in the first place. I've no right to stop you if you want to help their sensei" Tazuna told the girl. With a warm smile she gave the man a nod before taking down the barrier.

Turing to the water clone Honoka once more put on a determined expression.

"So, finally going to fight are you?" Zabuza asked as he stared the woman down. "There's only ever been one Uzumaki to make it into my bingo book" the clone said as it reached up for its sword. "Let's see how to stack up to Konoha's Red Death" Zabuza taunted her.

Back with the original Zabuza. "What are you doing? I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught!" Kakashi yelled out to the group. However his cries fell on deaf ears as Honoka charged the water clone.

As the red head approached the clone Zabuza's Kubikiribocho came off his back. Leaning back Honoka used her momentum to slide under the swinging blade. Once she was underneath him her chains once more shot out from her body, using the large spikes at the end to impale the clone. As the clone turned to water and fell down on her two more chained came out from her hip. Shooting out to the water's edge they planted themselves into the earth and by pulling them back to her Honoka was able to rapidly propel herself towards the real Zabuza.

"Clever, using her chakra chains to accelerate her body" Zabuza praised as Honoka reached the lake and took the chains out of the earth so they wouldn't slow her down. "But..." the man began as the teen flew across the water's surface, coming straight for him. "A frontal attack like that wont work on me!" Zabuza shouted as he swung his blade down, slicing Honoka right down the middle as she came with in reach of his attack.

With his victory evident Zabuza grinned wildly under the bandages, however, something wasn't right. Time seemed to slow down as his blade passed trough her body with ease, as if there was no resistance at all. When she continued to move forward and pass through his body Zabuza's eyes widened. 'A genjutsu?' the man wondered as the last of Honoka passed by. 'When did she...!?' the man was trying to figure out when his sense of danger kicked in. In his line of work even a split second of hesitation could cost you your life and so the man lept away.

As he flipped through the air a truly aggravating sight met his eyes. The danger he senses were the chakra chains coming out of Honoka's back which would have run through him had he been there a second longer, but how! Damn it! How did she not die when he sliced through her? How did she pass through him? Is it some kind of ninjutsu?

"Damn you!" Zabuza roared as he landed back on the water. Rushing the girl he went to swing his large blade at her once more. Even if he had to cute her down a thousand times over he'd kill her!

Before the Kubikiribocho could make contact with Honoka a second time Kakashi had jumped in to block it with a kunai. With water still flowing down his body Kakashi stared into Zabuza's eyes with his sharingan. "Honoka, you did good but it's time you got back to the others. I'll handle it from here" Kakashi told the girl. With a nod the teen ran around the two jounin and rushed back to the group, her and Zabuza's eyes meeting as she passed by.

"That's quite the technique she's got. Any normal shinobi would've stained my sword if they'd tried the same thing" Zabuza commented as his sword and Kakashi's Kunai scrapped against each other.

"I'd let you in on the secret, but now isn't the time for ghost stories" Kakashi told the man. After another moment of the two glaring at one another passed they jumped away as Zabuza put the Kubikiribocho back on his back.

As soon as the rogue Kirigakure shinobi landed on the water he was speeding through hand signs, signs that Kakashi began to copy when he landed. Once finished the pair called out in unison "Water style: water dragon jutsu!". With the jutsu's complete twin dragons rose from the lake, each one twisting and turning around the other before finally clashing and turning back to water which rained down on the two shinobi and stirring up the water of the lake.

Once more the two combatants clashed sword against kunai as the after effects of their jutsu continued to kick up waves in the lake. 'Something isn't right' Zabuza thought as he ran through what just happened in his head. 'The sharingan can comprehend and replicate the enemies technique, however... both justu occurred simultaneously. Could he...' the man thought to himself.

Breaking away again the two stood opposite one another. Beginning to run in a circle Zabuza watched as Kakashi followed his every move beat for beat, even coming to a stop at the same time he did and replicating his pose without hesitation.

"He's not just following. He's moving in the same way at the same time" Tazuna commented as they watched the fight.

"How's he doing that, how Sasuke?" Sakura asked but received no answer from the Uchiha.

'My movements... it's as if, as if he knows what I'm-' Zabuza was thinking when Kakashi spoke.

"What you're going to do next" the silver haired shinobi finished Zabuza's thought.

"What?" the man questioned with wide eyes as he stared at Kakashi. 'Is he reading my mind as well?' Zabuza wondered. 'He looks at me with that eye' he thought as he stared into Kakashi's sharingan.

"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi asked.

"Hah! All you're doing is copying me, like a monkey" Zabuza told him as he started on a new set of hand signs. "You can't beat me with cheep tricks, I'll crush you!" Zabuza and Kakashi said in unison, pissing Zabuza off. "When I'm finished with you You'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza yelled.

As they continued going through hand signs a figure began to appear behind Kakashi. 'What is that?' Zabuza wondered as it slowly took shape. Eventually the murky figure took his form. 'It's me? But how? Is it a genjutsu?' the man wondered as Kakashi finished his jutsu.

"Water style: giant water vortex jutsu" Kakashi called out, stunning Zabuza as a stream of water came out of the lake and formed a ring in front of Kakashi. That ring quickly expanded till it was a giant surge of water that launched out towards Zabuza.

"Impossible!" Zabuza cried out just before the water slammed into him. Carried along in the violent current Zabuza wondered who Kakashi could use that jutsu first when he was just about to use it. 'He copies my jutsu before I can even do it! I can't kep up!' Zabuza mentally shouted as the vortex ripped through the forest, carrying him with it before finally slamming him into the trunk of a tree and dying down.

When the water receded and Zabuza started coughing and gasping for breath several kunai flew through the air and pierced his arms and legs. In the branches above Kakashi stared down at the man. "You're finished" Kakashi told him.

Shakily tilting his head up to look at the silver haired man Zabuza asked "How? Can you... see into the future?".

"Yes" Kakashi answered as he pulled out another kunai. "This is your last battle, ever!" Kakashi said, ready to finish the man off when two senbon needles shot through the air and embedded themselves into the rogue shinobi's neck. With stunned expressions everyone turned to see who launched the sudden attack.

Standing on the branch of a nearby tree stood a young woman about the same age as Naruto and the others. She wore a green haori with white trimmings that was held together by a brown sash with a fringed trail that she had wrapped twice around her slim waist. Under that were brown, stripped cloves that covered everything except for her hands and lower legs with the bottom half of the clothing being very lose and baggy. Her sandles were light-brown with green straps. Her long, black hair was gathered into a white bun holder with two locks remaining to frame fer face while bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. Covering her face was a white mask with curved, red markings over where her mouth would be and having curved slits for her to see out of. On the forehead of the mask was the symbol of Kirigakure edged into the material.

"Hehmhe, you were right. It was his last battle" the new shinobi commented as Zabuza's body laid unmoving on the ground.

For a few moments the group just stared at her, a range of emotions running through them. Eventually Kakashi jumped down next to Zabuza's body to check for a pulse. "No vital signs" Kakashi confirmed before his attention moved back to the masked shinobi.

"Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance to finally take him down" the girl told him with a slight bow.

"Judging by your mask, I see you're a tracker shinobi from Kirigakure" Kakashi commented.

"Impressive. You're well informed" the girl said as she straightened back up.

Running up closer to the masked girl Naruto was struggling with what to do. Looking between her and Zabuza several times his hands clenched into fists. He knew that Kakashi, his mother, the old pervert, they all devoted years of their lives to training before they were as strong as they are but this... this girl just shows up and takes Zabuza down with one blow!?

"What is this? Who do you think you are?!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at the tracker and for a moment they just stared at one another. "Did you hear me?" the blond yelled again when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Turning his head to the side he saw Honoka looking at him. Closing her eyes she shook her head. This wasn't helping. Picking a fight with this person wouldn't benefit anyone.

"In this world, there are kids younger than you and yet stronger than me" Naruto heard Kakashi say as the man walked towards him. It was a fact hard for someone like Naruto to swallow, someone who desperately wanted to live up to the legacy of his ancestors, but it had to be done.

As Naruto agitatedly turned his head to the side the tracker moved from the branch to Zabuza's body in a swirl of wind and leafs. Lifting the man's body onto her shoulders she once again turned to Kakashi. "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body, they must not be aloud to get into the wrong hands... Please excuse me, farewell" she told them before vanishing in another gust of wind.

As Honoka's grip tightened on Naruto's shoulder Kakashi lowered his headband back over the sharingan. Turning to the other "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge" Kakashi said with more of an upbeat tone.

"Sorry I caused so much trouble for ya, but uh, you can rest at my house when we get there" Tazuna said with a laugh, feeling like he could walk on air now that Zabuza was delt with.

"Okay, let's get a move on" Kakashi said as he turned to continue to Tazuna's house. He barely took a few steps before the strain of the battle took its effect and he collapsed to the ground, causing the others to panic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again, I bring with me a new chapter!**

 **Now, before we go on I'd like to ask something. As you know this story is for pairings that are rare or never get their own stories. However, this does not mean that every girl who qualifies under those terms will be added to the harem. What I want to ask is if you think I should add Tsunami to the harem. Whether you want her in the harem or not I'd like our opinion on this. Please, if you have the time let me know what you think about this.**

 **With that out of the way I hope you all enjoy the story!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Opening his eye the first thing Kakashi saw was the wood plank roof of the room he was put in to rest. Laying in the futon the man was covered up to his neck. 'I think I over did it with my sharingan' Kakashi thought with a groan.

"Waking up, huh? Are you alright?" hearing the question Kakashi glanced over to his side to see a woman with long, black hair, a short-sleeved pink shirt with the ends of the sleeves and collar being red, and a long blue skirt staring down at him.

"I've been better. It'll be a week before I can move normally" Kakashi told her as he tried to sit up.

"See? It's better if you don't move, so just lay down" the woman advised with her hands on her hips. After a short moment of staring at the woman Kakashi agreed and laid back down on the futon, followed shortly by his team and Tazuna walking into the room.

"Hey look, Kakashi-sensei's up" Naruto commented as they walked into the room.

"Listen sensei," Sakura began as she sat down next to Kakashi, "your sharingan is amazing but if it puts that much of a strain on you then maybe it's not worth it".

"Sorry" Kakashi apologized for over exurting himself.

"Heh, well, he did take down one of the most powerful shinobi assassins so we'll be safe for a while" Tazuna commented as he wiped his face with the towel he always carried around his neck.

"Right..." Sakura agreed with a bit of concern in her voice. "That girl with the mask, what about her?" the pinket asked.

"She's from the elite tracking unit of Kirigakure. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi" Kakashi said.

"What exactly do they do?" Sakura then asked.

"The ANBU black ops, also known as the inferno squad, destroy all trace of a rogue shinobi's corps. The shinobi's body contains many secrets, ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on his body, these are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy he'd try to analyses my sharingan. In the worst case, my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against the village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this and keep the village secrets safe. If a shinobi betrays their village the trackers hunt them down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of their existence. That's their specialty" Kakashi explained.

As the man was explaining a nagging thought kept pestering him. 'What is this? If Zabuza is dead then why do I feel this way? Something's wrong. It's like I missed something' Kakashi thought to himself.

"Is something wrong?" Naruto asked, seeing the look on the man's face.

"Hm? Oh yeah..." Kakashi said after being pulled from his thoughts. "As I was saying, tracker shinobi deal with the body immediately, on the spot so there is no room for error" Kakashi told them.

"Is that really important?" Sakura asked.

"Think about it, remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?" the jounin asked.

"We don't know what he did. I mean, I guess she took it away some where" Sakura answered.

"Exactly, but why? She should have worked on Zabuza right there, as quickly as possible" Kakashi told them. "Think about the weapons she used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?" the man asked.

Sasuke was the first to answer. "Senbon needles" the Uchiha said as he realized what Kakashi was getting at and his eyes widened.

"Exactly. None of it adds up" Kakashi responded.

"What are you all yammering about? You demolished that assassin" Tazuna interjected.

"Here's the truth, Zabuza is still alive" Kakashi said, surprising everyone except for Sasuke and Honoka.

"But we saw his body!" Naruto reasoned.

"Kakashi-sensei, you checked him yourself! You said that his heart stopped" Sakura added.

"His heart did stop but, that was just a temporary state to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used can pierce deeply, but rarely kill unless they hit a vital organ, not in the neck. They're modified from medical needles used in treatments like acupuncture. Trakers are trained to know every detail oh the human body. Causing the heart to stop temporarily while keeping the body alive is a simple task for them. First, she carried Zabuza'a body away even though it's much heavier than she is. Second, she used senbon which have a precise effect but are rarely fetal. From these two factors we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to kill Zabuza, but safe him" Kakashi told them.

"Come on, you're over thinking this aren't you?" Tazuna asked, not wanting to believe what he was hearing.

"Encountering suspicion a shinobi prepares quickly, hesitation leads to disaster. Every shinobi knows this saying" Kakashi said as his eye darted over to Naruto. By the look on the blond's face he was exited to hear that Zabuza was alive. Perhaps this time he'll get to show what he can do.

"So with you out of commission we'll have to rely on Honoka?" Tazuna questioned. The girl may not have fought for long but she certainly held her own. With her skills they should be sa-

"That's not a preferable position to be in. Honoka can't sustain a long fight with her level of training and after rescuing me from the water prison they'll know not to use physical attacks on her. If it came down to a one on one fight, I'm not sure she'd be able to protect you" Kakashi bluntly told the bridge builder.

"Well... if we can't rely on just Honoka then what are we suppose to do?" Sakura asked.

After a few chuckles Kakashi told her "Just because I have to rest my body doesn't mean I can't train you".

This came as a surprise to the pinket and she mae sure to voice it, "Now hold on Kakashi-sensei! A little bit of last minute training wont prepare us for Zabuza!".

"That may be true, but after that fight Zabuza will undoubtedly need as much time to recover as I do. Between now and then you'll train so that you can better support me while we have our rematch. On top of that, we can expect his accomplice to take part in the fight now that we know they're working together. If you're under-trained then you risk the lives of both yourself and those we're here to protect" Kakashi tells the girl.

"Right!" Naruto exclaims after Kakashi had finished. "We'll get stronger and protect the bridge builder. Everything's going to be alright, believe it!" the blond continued with a grin and was immediately followed after by a new voice.

"We I don't believe it and nothing's going to be alright!" a young boy standing in the doorway said. The kid wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandles. On his head sat a white bell shaped hat with two blue stripes on it. He had short spiky brown hair that poked out from under his hat and dark colored eyes.

"Guah, Inari! Where have you been?" Tazuna greeted the boy as he threw his arms out.

"Welcome back grandpa!" Inari cheered as he rushed over to hug the old man.

Walking over to her son Tsunami once more placed her hands on her hips as she stared down at the boy. "Inari, that was very rude! These shinobi helped your grandpa and brought him here safely" the woman scolded her son.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm rude to them too" Tazuna commented as he patted Inari's head.

After taking another long look at the shinobi Inari turned to his mother. "Mom, don't you see? These people are all going to die! Gato and his men will come back, find them, and wipe them out!" the boy told his mother.

"What did you say brat?" Naruto questioned as he shot up to his feet. "Listen up! Do you know what a super shinobi is? That's me only a lot better! This Gato guy is no match for a real hero like me!" Naruto told the kid.

"Ha, there's no such thing as a hero" Inari scoffed as he rim of his hat hid his eyes. "You're just full of stupid ideas!" the boy said as he raised his head to stare at the blond.

Naruto was about to storm over and get in the kid's face but Honoka's hand grabbing the bottom of his jacket quickly put an end to that idea. "If you want to stay alive you should go back were you came from" Inari said before he turned to walk away.

"Inari, wait, where are you going?" Tazuna asked the boy.

"To look out at the ocean. I want to be alone!" the boy answered before leaving the room.

Turning to their quests Tazuna apologized for Inaries behavior.

A little later and Naruto was making his way upstairs. He didn't care if the kid was the clients grandson, he was going to knock some sense into him. Once he got to the second floor and started to make his way down the hall the blond began to hear something he hadn't expected, the sound of someone crying. Approaching Inari's room Naruto peeked in through the slightly opened door. What he saw was Inari sitting on the wooden desk in front of his window that looked over the ocean. In his hands was a small photo from with a picture of a man that looked to have been torn from a larger image.

As tears ran down his face and dropped onto to frame Inari softly cried out for his father. Seeing this the anger Naruto had felt moment earlier just washed away. Lowering his head the blond just turned and headed back down the hall. However, he was not the only one to overhear Inari's sadness. Above the boy's window, looking out at the vast ocean Honoka sat on the roof with her arms wrapped around her knees.

'This land has lost so much. We have to help them' the red haired woman thought as buried her face in her knees. She was powerless once to stop a horrible evil from destroying so many innocent lives. She didn't want to see something like that ever happen again.

Later that day had Kakashi walking around with the aid of crutches. And with his ability to walk around the man had led his three students out into the woods. "Alright, training begins now!" Kakashi told the three after he'd found a suitable location. "First, we will begin with a review of chakra, a shinobi's basic source of power. Understanding chakra is essential" Kakashi told them.

"We know that" Sasuke told the man, finding an explanation unnecessary.

"Yeah, mom drills it into my head all the time!" Naruto told the man as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is that so?" Kakashi asked them. "Then surely you're already aware of the tree climbing exercise, correct?" the man questioned. This, is where the two of them faltered.

"The, tree climbing exercise?" Naruto questioned while Sasuke turned his head with a 'humph'. Despite being from two historically powerful clans the pair had yet to enter into more advance chakra training. Aside from the leaf exercise all academy students are shown it doesn't seem like they've even touched the subject. This should make the fact that they can use more advance jutsu such as shadow clones or the fireball jutsu even more impressive but perhaps it should be chalked up to luck.

"When performing a jutsu one combines both their physical energy and their spiritual energy. Each jutsu requires a different mix of proportions to work. Up till now you've only been guessing. Even if you produce a lot of chakra if you can't balance and control it it's all worthless. Either the justu wont work or it'll just be a joke. You waste so much energy that way and then you're out of chakra and you can't fight at all! You're just a target" Kakashi explained.

"So how do we fix that?" Naruto asked.

"Train so hard that controlling your chakra becomes second nature" Kakashi tells them.

"So what do we have to do?" the pinket asked.

"Simple, climb a tree" Kakashi answered with a smile. Obviously this was a surprise for the genin as they questioned what he told them. "Well, there is one catch. You're not allowed to use your hands" the man told them.

"What? You're kidding" Sakura commented after hearing that.

"Am I? Let's see" Kakashi responded as he turned and walked towards the closest tree. Before the three's very eyes the man walked straight up the truck as if he was strolling down the treet, even coming to stand upside down on one of the branches. "Well, you get the idea. Focus your chakra towards the souls of your feet and use it to conect to the tree. This is one way to apply the power of chakra" Kakashi explained.

"What a minute!" Sakura called out. "That's a nice trick sensei, but how is it going to help us fight Zabuza!" the pinket asked.

"It's the only way to fight him, Sakura" Kakashi quickly responded. "That's the whole point of this training. First you'll learn to focus a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in the body. This type of climbing requires a subtle mix of physical and spiritual energy and the bottom of the feet are the most difficult to focus chakra too. Are you getting the picture? If you can master this then you will be able to master any jutsu!" Kakashi told them before adding at the end, "Well, theoretically". "The second point is to maintain chakra levels. In battle it's even harder to maintain and control chakra levels, a deadly mistake. To avoid this maintaining chakra must become second nature. Effortless" the man told them.

"Well, I could go on all day but that wont advance your skills now will it? You need to apply the power of chakra, through training" Kakashi said as he pulled out three kunai and tossed them to his student's feet. "Use the kunai to mark the tree at the highest point you can climb, without using your hands. Then try to get past that mark the next time, and the next. At first you'll need to run at the tree so your momentum will take you as high as possible, until you get use too it. Ready?" Kakashi instructed them.

Else where, among the islands that make up Wave, a large cone shapped building was located among many large trees. This building was Gato's main hub for his illegal activities within this small island nation. It was here that Zabuza was recovering.

Sitting beside his bed Haku watched over her master, her face no longer hidden behind her mask. She had delicate features and deep, caring brown eyes.

Hearing the doors creak open the girl looked over her shoulder to see Gato stroll into the room accompanied by two of his thugs. Both of them claimed to have had samurai training in the past and both of them lacked any honor. "Some jounin. The unbeatable shinobi just got beat. Limping back home like some pathetic hasbeen" the corrupt businessman remarked. "Demon of the hidden mist, Hahaha, more like coward of the hidden mist" the short man insulted.

Hearing this Haku stood up, the wooden chair she'd been sitting in clattering against the stone floor as Gato's thugs reached for their blades. "Drawing swords?" Haku asked as she watched the men from over her shoulder. Honestly, it was more amusing than anything else.

"Hang on a minute" Gato instructed his men as he walked by them. "Alright, let's hear what you have to say about this fiasco" Gato said as he walked up to Zabuza's bed. "And don't play possum. I know you can talk" Gato said as he reached out for the man, only to wince in pain when Haku grabbed hold of his arm.

"Keep your filthy hands off of him!" Haku lowly growled out as she glared daggers at the man and squeezed just a bit harder.

"Aaaaaagh! You're gonna break it!" the man shouted.

Seeing the guy who writes their checks in danger the two samurai thugs drew their swords and rushed the girl. However, they were unprepared for her speed and skill as they were quickly disarmed and had the tips of their own blades brushing up against their throats. "Don't push me. I'm in a really foul mood" Haku warned before tossing the swords to the other side of the room.

As Gato and his men backed off towards the door he made one last warning. "One chance, that's it! If you fail this time I'll cut you off and then they'll be no one left to cover for you!" the man yelled before leaving with his hired men.

"Haku, that wasn't necessary" Zabuza told the teen once they were alone. Under the blanket he held a kunai in his hand having been fully prepared to plunge it into Gato's throat.

"Perhaps, but it's to early to take out Gato" Haku argued. "He's still our best cover. Think about it, the murders would draw their attention. Then they'd be after us again" Haku said, referring to actual tracker shinobi from Kirigakure. "We need restraint" the girl told him with a smile.

"Ugh, right" Zabuza reluctantly agreed as he closed his eyes and tried to rest. The moment Gato no longer served a purpose, he was a dead man.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five's done!**

 **Thank you all for responding to last chapter's question. It helped me decide whether or not I should add Tsunami to the harem. I got plenty of yeses and a few maybes, so I'm thinking I should add her.**

 **Also, I'm not sure how clear it is in the story, but some characters are older than in canon. For example, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and their classmates are roughly the age they were during shippuden. For a harem story like this I just thought changing a small thing like that made sense.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Tsunami was a stay at home mother, she tended to the house, prepared everyone's meals, and made sure her son and grandfather looked presentable before they went out in public. Today, she had nothing to do. It was actually quite common actually, there was only so much she could clean or rearrange before having nothing to do.

She considered getting a job in the past but Inari was still a bit too young for her to comfortably leave him alone all day. Then you had the fact that even if she got a job it'd never pay enough to make the daily trip to the town worth it. She'd picked up a few hobbies over the years such as gardening and origami to widdle away the hours but today, today she was fighting off boredom thanks to the blond shinobi staying in her house.

Like everyone she had heard the tales of shinobi who could breath fire or scale walls and toss boulders five times their size, but it still took her by surprise when Naruto made a duplicate of himself before heading out with his team. Honoka and the clone had then set up a space inside the house where they could work.

As Tsunami had walked around the house looking for something to do she'd keep walking by the room they were in, and every time she'd see that more and more scrolls and ink bottles had pilled up around them. After hours of letting her curiosity building up to a boil Tsunami finally had enough. After making a pot of tea to use as an excuse the woman made her way over to the pair.

"Wow, This is really good!" Naruto complemented after taking a sip of the tea Tsunami brewed. The blond hadn't been expecting the woman to offer them something to drink like this but he couldn't say he was unhappy with it.

"Thank you. We don't have much to work with so I try to make the most of it" Tsunami told him as she poured her own cup, having joined the pair in sitting on the floor. Looking around them Tsunami once more had her attention drawn to the scrolls laying on the floor. Looking closely she could tell that, despite the weird design, every scroll seemed to have the same design on it. Reaching over Tsunami picked one up. The first thing she noticed about it was how warm the paper was. Why was it so warm? "What have you been working on?" the woman asked as she ran a finger over the dried ink.

Looking from Tsunami's face, to the scroll in her hands, and then back up to her face as he leaned back on his hands Naruto figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her. "Funjutsu practice" Naruto told the woman. Having expected the confused look she gave him Naruto gave her a wide grin and elaborated, "Funjutsu is a form of shinobi art that uses written formulas, kanji, and other symbols to perform some kind of action. The most common use for funjutsu is to seal an object into another object. Like putting a sleeping bag inside a scroll".

The explanation sounded unbelievable to her, but Tsunami understood what the blond was saying. "So you're learning how to use funjutsu then?" the woman asked with a smile.

Naruto gave her a nod before saying "Yeah, mom's had me memorize at least one seal a week for about a year now. Before that it was daily calligraphy lessons that she had me do since I was just a kid".

"That's quite a lot for someone your age" Tsunami commented. When she was his age she didn't have the slightest idea what she wanted out of life. Hell, she was just barely twice his age and she still didn't quite know what she wanted.

"You think?" Naruto asked as he sat up straight. Everyone he knew that was around his age put in a lot of work.

"Oh yes, when I was your age I just spent everyday wondering around town getting free handouts from boys who thought I looked pretty. I just thought of hard work as being something for older people, something I didn't have to worry about until I was an adult" the woman admitted, placing the scroll in her lap and tilting her head back to stare at the ceiling as she reminisced about her youth. Letting out a sigh as she closed her eyes she added "Sometimes I wonder how father put up with me".

Grabbing his cup Naruto brought it up and took another sip. Holding his cup a few inches below his chin Naruto commented with a big grin "Well, you are petty".

While Naruto had meant it as a harmless complement hearing someone half her age call her pretty was quite the surprise. With flushed cheeks Tsunami began to chuckle nervously, "Oh come on now. You don't need to flatter an old woman like me".

"But it's true. You're really pretty" Naruto told her and watched with a bit of confusion as more of Tsunami's face turned red. She'd never admit it, but having Naruto call her pretty was quite the ego boost, even if it was embarrassing.

Looking to her other side Tsunami worried about how she must look right now. Even without looking in a mirror she knew her face was completely red after that. Though, her embarrassment was soon forgotten when she noticed that Honoka was holding her ceramic cup with both hands and staring down at her own reflection. The look on the girl's face was, to best describe it, odd. "Is something wrong?" Tsunami asked, her face returning to it's normal hue.

Widening her eyes Honoka's head jerked up to look at Tsunami. Shaking her head enough for her bangs to fly about her face Honoka gave the woman a big smile before drinking from her cup. Lowering the cup Honoka let out a blissful sigh. It really was delicious.

Tsunami was still a little concerned with the look she saw on Honoka but seeing her act like this put a smile back on her face as she chuckled ever so slightly. "You don't talk too much do you?" the woman off offhandedly remarked, finding it cute in a way.

Hearing her say that Honoka looked at Tsunami for a moment before a thoughtful look spread across her face. Looking straight ahead at Naruto the girl looked him in the eyes as she gave him a sharp nod.

It took Naruto a moment to understand what she was trying to say but after living with her for months now he was positive he knew what she was thinking. "Are you sure? You can't change your mind once I tell her" Naruto asked the girl to make sure she was serious about this. Honoka's response was another nod.

Seeing their interaction Tsunami couldn't help her curiosity. "Tell me what?" the woman asked. Everyone has their secrets but honestly, you can't just tease her like that and expect her not to ask.

Both of them turned towards Tsunami and stared at her intently. If Tsunami was honest with herself, it was a bit off putting. "Tell me... are you scared of ghosts?" Naruto eventually asked.

Ghosts? They wanted to know if she was scared of ghosts? Blinking in confusion Tsunami responded, "No. I can't say I was ever really scared of ghosts". Really, what are they trying to get at with this? If they were trying to pull some prank then it's not particularly funny.

After a moment Naruto nodded his head with a "Right!". Placing his hands on his folded legs Naruto looked Tsunami squarely in the eye and told her "Please don't freak out, but Honoka is a ghost".

For a few, long moments not a sound passed between the three, until... "Phff... Hahahahaha!" Tsunami tried to hold back her laughter but i the end she failed horribly. This quiet girl sitting within an arms reach was suppose to be a ghost? Tsunami just couldn't wrap her mind around it. Seriously, who ever heard of a ghost just walking around in brood daylight like any normal person?

"Hey! I'm being serious here!" Naruto blurted out, both him and Honoka having become annoyed at seeing Tsunami burst into laughter.

"I-I'm sorry! I-Hahaha-I just can't help myself!" Tsunami apologized, threatening to fall over as her sides started to hurt from the laughter.

As Naruto crossed his arms and started grumbling Honoka let out a sigh as her hand came up to rest on her forehead and for her fingers to partially run through her hair. As she thought about it the corners of her lips curved upward. At least it was better than fear.

"O-hooooo-okay. I-ha-I think I'm good now" Tsunami said after a few more minutes of laughing, wiping a tear from her eye as she sat up straight again. "Okay... let's assume I believe you. Honoka here is a ghost and that means what, exactly?" the woman questioned.

"Ah, well..." Naruto began as his hand came up to scratch at his cheek. Since she was a ghost there are some differences between her and a living person. For one example, since she doesn't have a body she doesn't necessarily need to sleep, so most nights she's up wandering around the house or walking through the streets to keep her mind occupied. Though, right now the biggest thing Tsunami should know would probably be, "It's hard for her to talk" Naruto told the woman.

"Hard to talk? Why would being a ghost make it hard for her to talk?" Tsunami asked. She's heard plenty of ghost stories that talked about all the creepy things the spirits would say.

"Uum, I think it's like this. You and I have physical bodies so we don't have to put a lot of energy into talking because we have, what was it called? Ah right! We have vocal cords to help us talk. Honoka doesn't have a physical body, so normal things we do without even thinking about it, like talking, Honoka has to do with spiritual energy, making it a lot harder" Naruto explained, doing his best to recall what Tsunade had told them after she had given Honoka a check up. "Did that make any sense?" the blond then added after a moment.

"I think I get it" Tsunami responded. She still had no idea if they were telling the truth but that didn't really mater. Turning to Honoka Tsunami leaned in and grabbed hold of the girl's hands, surprising her at the sudden contact. Bringing their hands up with Honoka's being held inside of Tsunami's the woman told her, "Ghost or not you helped my father return home safely. You're welcome here, always".

Hearing Tsunami's words Honoka's eyes widened a bit more as her lips parted slightly.

"Are you really going to stay here? Even now that the Ultimate Summoning Beast is gone?" an image from that fateful day came to the foreground of Honoka's mind. On that day, Kushina had held out her hand for Honoka to take, the long red hair she'd had in a ponytail flowing freely in the wind and that wide grin playing across her face. Before that day Honoka had spent so much time alone and hopeless, everyday seemed to blend into one another.

With a wide smile Honoka practically shined in that moment as Tsunami held her hands between them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello everyone, I bring with me a special treat this time around. I'm sure that if you've been on the sight long enough then you've read the wave arc dozens of times, right? Well I thought I'd cut it up a little bit and tell a story about what happened with Ami while Naruto was training in Wave.**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

"I DON"T WANT ANOTHER D-RANK MISSION!" the usual quiet of the Hokage tower was shattered on this morning. Standing in front of the Hokage's desk Ami had a very annoyed look on ger face with her arms crossed and tapping her right arm with her left index finger.

"Don't raise your voice like that in front of lord Hokage!" Ami's sensei yelled at her as she and Ami's teammates stood a few paces behind her. Her sensei was a reasonably attractive woman, a bit short for her age but pretty. Her dark brown hair came down to her chin and did a wonderful job framing her rounded face. Her green eyes at the moment were glaring at her student. Like most jounin of the village she wore a standard flax-jacket, however beneath that she wore a dark blue dress that reached down passed her knees with a slit on the left side that cam up to her hip and the sleeves were long and lose. Visible beneath the slit in her dress where the tight fitting black shorts she wore under chainmail that extended to just above her knee. The dark blue sandles she wore were open and had a lot of straps.

"But senseai~!" Ami wined as she turned at the hip to look at the woman. "We've been shinobi for a year now and we've only done lame ass D-rank missions. Naruto was graduated a less than a month ago and his team's already out on a C-rank mission! How is that fair?" Ami reasoned, her back arched forward slightly with clenched hands raised up to her sides.

"That was Kakashi's decision regarding his team. I'm not him and I say you're still not ready for a C-rank mission!" Ishiko told the girl.

"Here we go again" Kasumi commented, crossing her arms over her borderline C-cup breasts. Kasumi was a girl with an orange afro and a person who always seemed to have her eyes closed despite her seeing everything just fine. Unlike her friend and sensei she wore her headband around her neck, keeping it lose so it didn't choke her while not so lose that it'd slip over her head while she was jumping around. She wore a purple cloth vest over a faded yellow shirt with long, lose sleeves and a pair of black shorts reaching her knees.

"Just let them argue. No point in either of us jumping in" Fuki said, getting a nod from her orange haired friend. Fuki had short and very wild, spiky brown hair. Her dark eyes were half-lidded and matched the rest of her disinterested expression that more often than not put people off unintentionally. With a grey scarf wrapped around her neck Fuki had her headband tied around her upper right arm. Her shirt was yellow with short, teal sleeves, and her pants that reached down to her standard shinobi sandles were a light tan color.

"If we're not ready then it's because you never let us do anything!" Ami yelled back at her sensei.

"Why you!" Ishiko growled out as her arms came up, her hands threatening to ball into fists. "Don't you get it? Being a shinobi is extremely dangerous! If your not ready for a mission then let someone who is take it so you don't run off to an early grave!" Ishiko yelled at the teen.

Ami was about to yell at the woman again when something poked her back and nearly made her jump out of her skin. Taking a small jump forward Ami turned around to see the Hokage holding out a mission scroll with a large C written on it. "This should be within your skill level" the old man said with a warm smile. is smile only grew when he saw he girl's face light up as she quickly took the scroll from him.

"Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou!" Ami repeated while grinning like a mad man.

"Lord Hokage!?" Ishiko questioned in disbelieve.

"Ishiko" the old man addressed and watched as the woman stood up straight. "It is true that we sort missions the way we do in part to protect our less skilled shinobi, but if they never push themselves then they'll never grow" Haruzen said.

"Yes Lord Hokage, I understand!" Ishiko responded. "If that's all then we'll be leaving" the woman told him, feeling a bit awkward now that she was out ruled.

With the man dismissing them the group went to leave. Ishiko held the door open as her students left the room. Ami was the last to go and before she did she turned back to the Hokage, scroll in hand, "Thanks again old man. When we get back I'll treat you to some dumplings!" the teen told Haruzen, getting an annoyed look from her sensei.

"Hehe, I'm already looking forward to it" Haruzen told her with a chuckle as the door closed behind them. Even at his age he could still hear Ishiko reprimanding Ami for speaking so casually to the village leader like that as they walked down the hall.

"So what's this mission about anyway?" Fuki asked now that the village gates were getting farther and farther behind them, each of them carrying the standard packs save for Kasumi who had a large shiriken strapped to her back with two smaller packs strapped to her hip.

"We're to travel to a farming village little over half-a-day from Konoha. According to the report they've been harassed by wild hogs for the past few months, suffering repeated crop loss and damage to property. Our mission is to take care of these hogs" Ishiko told them.

"We're pest control?" Kasumi questioned as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "If I wanted to do that I would've gone to work with my cousin, not spend my live becoming a shinobi" the teen complained.

"Don't blame me, Ami's the one who insisted we take on a C-rank mission" Ishiko commented, directing the girls growing annoyance at the purple haired member of the team.

Feeling Kasumi and Fuki's eyes fall on her Ami looked off into the forest with a nervous sweat. "So the mission's shit, what ever. It's a step in the right direction at least!" Ami boldly declared as her head jerked back forward. "Besides, can you honestly say this is any worse than picking weeds or picking up trash?" the girl asked as she looked over at her friends.

Taking a moment to think about it the two had to admit "Yeah, I guess/Fair point".

Word had been sent ahead of them via messenger hawk that a shinobi team had been sent out to handle the mission, and so many of the villagers were waiting for the group on the outskirts of the village. "Shinobi of Konoha, welcome to our village" a man who's black hair was just starting to turn grey greeted as he stepped forward from the rest of the villagers.

Coming to a stop in front of the man Ishiko stretched out her arm to shake his hand. As the woman was about to speak Fuki beat her to it, "This is quite the welcoming party you got here" the teen commented as she eyed up the villagers with her right hand resting on her hips.

Coming to the front of the group a a tall man with a chiselled chin, short black hair, and a muscular body build from hours of work spent on the farm every day commented "well, when our livelihoods rest in your hands you better believe we'll be out here to welcome you with open arms".

"Is tha-" Fuki was saying when Ishiko slid in front of her with hearts in her eyes.

"Of course! When we heard the plight your village was suffering through we couldn't help but accept the request!" Ishiko gushed, her hand's clasped together in front of her chest as she stared into the man's amber eyes. Behind her her genin team just rolled their eyes at the woman's antics.

With Ishiko... distracted, Kasumi stepped forward to talk to the man who'd originally stepped forward from the other villagers. "Can you tell us more about the wild boars?" the girl asked.

"Yes, the wild boars" the man began with a slight nod. "It's not unusual for them to visit out village every year from the near by mountains. Usually we can just set up a few traps to capture them and be done with it, but this year... This year we had set up the traps like always but when we went to check them the next morning they'd been torn apart, left as nothing more than heaps of twisted metal" the man explained.

"Sound's like that's take some serious strength, and you say all of the traps were like that?" Kasumi asked as she folded her left arm under her chest and rubbed her chin with her right hand.

"Not all, we still have a few traps left but none of them have captured anything this year" the man told her.

"I see..." Kasumi murmured. To be able to tear apart a metal cage, are they dealing with a shinobi here?

"Don't worry, we'll have this all sorted out before you know it!" Ami proclaimed with a wide grin as she jabbed her left thumb into her own chest.

"Yeah! If we can't catch them with a trap we'll just track them down and beat them into submission with our bare hands!" Fuki exclaimed as she slammed her fist into her open palm.

"Hm, right" Kasumi agreed with a confident nod. After hearing these two say something like that they better not fail. They wouldn't want to look like idiots now would they?

As night fell Ami headed out to the fields north of the village while Kasumi headed west and Fuki patrolled along the forests that stretched up the mountains to the east. Their sensei stayed in the village to hit on the hunk from earlier-er-keep an eye out for any wild hog that may end up in town. Kasumi had requested that they use the remaining traps and now they were patrolling their areas, making sure to regularly check the traps within those areas.

Coming to land on one of the three traps set up in her area Ami glanced down to see a hog soundly trapped behind bars, having been lured in by the fruit left inside as bait. Bringing her hand up to her headset Ami radioed her teammates, "I've got one over here. That makes what, four now?".

"Yeah, one over by me and two over with Fuki" Ami heard Kasumi's voice over the communicator.

"So when does this get interesting? The most exciting thing I've seen all night is a snot bubble one of the hogs blew" Fuki's voice rang in their ears.

Sitting down on the cage Ami let her legs hang over the side as she let out a sigh. "Yeah, it's pretty boring..." Ami admitted. This wasn't at all what she had in mind when she asked for a C-rank mission. "Well, if we pull this of then maybe we'll start getting better missions" the teen said to her friends.

"We can only hope" Kasumi said.

"Hope my ass! If we have to go through another month of garbage duty I'm going to lose my..." Fuki was beginning a rant when she just stopped talking.

Curious Ami asked through the radio "What is it, did something happen?".

"... I think I know what broke the cages" Fuki said as sat on a tree branch that over looked the grassy field between the forest and the village.

"What is it? What do you see?" Kasumi asked.

"Well..." Fuki began as she stared down at a wild boar four times her size and covered in scars. The beast grunted and stared up at her with it's single eye, it's front right hove digging into the ground as it dared her to come down. "Just get over here as fast as you can. We got a fight on our hands" Fuki told them.

"Just tell us what you se-" Kasumi was telling the girl when Fuki turned off the communicator.

Standing up the girl cracked her knuckles. "I've been waiting for a good fight for a looong time. You better not disappoint me" Fuki told the boar as she glared back at it.

Jumping through the trees Ami was going as quickly as she could to reach her friend. "Ami!" the girl heard from below. Looking down she saw Kasumi running along the ground.

"We should be close to Fuki be now" Ami said as she hopped down to run next to Kasumi. "I swear, if she's gotten in over her head I'll kick her ass myself after this is over!" Ami hissed through gritted teeth. They were a team, they were suppose to work together. Besides, if Fuki thinks she can keep all of the excitement to herself she's got another thing coming!

"Let's just focus on helping her first" Kasumi told her friend. Hearing a commotion up ahead the two made a direct path for it.

Jumping out of the brush Ami and Kasumi came to a small clearing. A few feet in front of them stood Fuki. "What... took you so long...?" Fuki asked through deep breaths, her back still turned to the two.

"Stop trying to act cool, dumbass!" Ami shouted, pointing her finger at the girl.

Dropping her stance slightly Fuki looked over her shoulder, "Ah, come on. Can't even give me a break once can ya?".

"You got that right" Ami told her with a grin.

"Have your moment some other time" Kasumi told the pair as she stepped forward, her hand reaching up to grab the large shiriken on her back. "We've got a mission to complete and this guy's standing in our way" the girl said as she stared down the giant boar standing on the other edge of the clearing, still ready to go.

"What the hell! Why is that thing so huge?" Ami yelled having been the last one to notice it.

"I don't know but it's put my taijutsu to it's limits. No mater how many kicks or punches I land it just keeps charging forward" Fuki told them.

"No one said you had to fight alone" Ami told the girl as she came up to stand by her so that the three of them were lined up now.

"That's right, we're a team and we fight as one" Kasumi said.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I just couldn't resist the chance for a real fight" Fuki apologized. "But I think I've had a long enough break, ready to go when you are" the girl said as rolled her shoulders.

"Good, then I'll cover the two of you like usual" Kasumi told them, watching as the boar waited for their move. As soon as her two friends agreed Kasumi leaped into the air. Taking the shiriken off her back Kasumi spun around mid air before latting the weapon fly from her hands and towards the boar. Quickly running through hand signs the girl called out "Ninja art: shadow shiriken jutsu!" and in an instant the single weapon became five large projectiles sailing for the wild animal.

Seeing the attack coming the boar jerked its head to the side and pierced one of the many trees with its tusks. Using brute strength the animal uprooted the tree and pulled it down to swat away one of the shiriken, catch three of them with the trunk, and allowed the last to harmlessly sail past it.

Coming in from the side Ami rushed the beast with a kunai in hand. As the girl approached the boar jerked to the side, fully prepared to impale the teen on its tusk when she jumped back. "Not so fast big guy!" Ami taunted with a grin as she avoided the attack.

With its lone eye scanning the area the wild hog wondered what happened to the other girl, the one it was fighting earlier. From below the ground began to crack and before the boar had time to react Fuki came out, fist soaring up to collide with the wild hog's chin. Rearing up on it's hind legs the pissed hog was going to slam it's front hooves down and crush this girl.

"Heavy bastard, aren't ya" Fuki commented, seeing as the animal was still on the ground after that punch. "Figures" she said with a smirk as she twisted around so she was on all four with her back turned to the hog. "Just get in the air already!" Fuki shouted as she mule kicked the hog's stomach.

With her powerful kick the wild hog was sent into the air. As it was planing out how it was going to eviscerate these brats when it landed the hog noticed something glimmer in the moonlight next to it. "Got ya" Kasumi whispered as she knelt down on a nearby branch. Yanking her arms up and over her head the wire she had wrapped around her fists yanked the shiriken that had went past the boar out of the bushes and sending it straight into the hog's back.

As the beast fell back to the ground the three genin jumped out into the open to observe their work.

"The village should be able to tend to their fields without issue now" Kasumi commented.

"Yeah, looks like our works over" Fuki said with a big grin and she rested the back of her hands on her hips.

Walking over Ami poked the wild hog's body with her foot. "Who knew a pig could cause so much trouble" the girl said with a smirk.

With another poke from Ami however the hog's eye shot open, freaking the three out. With a loud roar the boar pushed itself up to its feet and knocked the three of them back.

After sliding to the edge of the clearing Ami sat up to see the large animal standing in the center with Kasumi's shiriken lodged in it's back, blood pouring slowly down its sides. "Damn it" Ami cursed as she shakily got back to her feet. "If you think..." she began as the boar glared at her and gave a loud snort that kicked up dust. "If you think I'll let my first C-rank mission end in failure because of some fat pig you're insane!" Ami yelled as she ran right at the animal regardless of her friends telling her to calm down.

Reaching into her pouch Ami yanked out her water jug. Opening the container she tossed the jug into the air. "Water style: pellet storm jutsu" the girl called out after a few hand signs and caused the water that flew out of her jug to form into small droplets and pelt the boar.

The hog just shook the attack off and charged the girl. With a roar the beast thrust its tusks at the girl but was surprised when she caught them in her arms as her feet came off the ground and pressed against its snout. "Don't take me lightly!" Ami told the beast as she flipped over its head with a quick turn so that she came to sit on its neck.

Wrapping her legs around the animal's thick neck as best she could to prevent herself from being thrown off Ami began another set of hand signs. "Lighting style: Static palm jutsu!" the teen cried out, her palms surging with sparks of electricity. Slamming her hands into the boars wet fur Ami began to fry the animal, and to a degree herself, as the things sequels of pain echoed through the forest.

After a few minutes of this the electricity came to a stop and the boar collapsed to the ground with Ami soon tumbling off of it. "AMI!" the girl's two friends called out as they rushed over to her.

"Ami, are you alright?" Kasumi asked as her and Fuki came to kneel next to their purple haired friend.

"I will be, once my head stops throbbing" Ami responded as one last spark arched between the ends of her hair.

The next morning had the team standing outside the village, this time with the town folk seeing them off. "Do take care on your way back" the man with graying hair told them.

"We wouldn't want our heroes getting hurt" the handsome man from yesterday said with a big grin, his wife standing next to him with their three year old son.

"Yes, well be just fine" Ishiko said with a big smile, right up to the point she turned around to head back to Konoha and her tears started again. Waving goodbye the three genin quickly followed after their sensei with a little extra company.

"You're really going to keep that thing, huh" Kasumi said to Fuki as she walked next to the boar the fought the night before. After they'd gone back to the village to tell them what had happened they found that the thing had stumbled its way after them before collapsing again just outside the village. Fuki had taken pitty on it and patched it up the best she could, hens the many rolls of bandages wrapped around the thing's torso.

"Of course! It's hard to find a good fighter like this guy!" Fuki happily cheered as she rode on it's neck. "Besides, I think he likes me" the girl said as she leaned forward and patted the coarse hair on boar's head, chuckling when it let out a happy snort.

"Ah what ever. It's not like it's going to be living in my house" Kasumi responded as she turned her head forward again. That is, till she notices the expression Ami had on her face.

"What's with that look? Don't tell me you're that happy just because we completed the mission" Kasumi asked her friend with a smirk.

"Yeah, you've been grinning from ear to ear since this morning" Fuki added.

Turning her head to her friends Ami told them "Are you kidding? Naruto's going to love it when he hears about this! Hell, I bet he was bored out of his mind looking after that bridge builder guy". Turning to each other Kasumi and Fuki shared a look before giggling. "Hey! What are you laughing at?" Ami questioned as her face started to turn red.

"Nothing, honestly" Kasumi waved off as Fuki quickly followed up with essentially the same thing.

As Ami continued to pester her friends about what was so amusing, Ishiko led the group and listened in on their conversation. 'To be young and in love, such a beautiful thing' the woman thought, both happy for her student and miserable because she didn't have her luck when it came to romance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone! I've finished up chapter seven and I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

"Good morning everyone" Sakura greeted as she walked into the dinning room with a yawn quickly following said greeting. The night before Tazuna had told them about Kaiza, the man who'd traveled to Wave three years ago and became not only this land's hero but also a father to Inari. They were also told of his ultimate fate at the hands of Gato's goons after he'd caused trouble for the businessman. His death had been made a public execution as a show of power.

All of them had gone to sleep last night with that in mind but perhaps she let it roll around her mind the most seeing as she was the last to make it to the table. Even Naruto who had stumbled his way back to the forest for more training was helping Tsunami set the table.

As Tsunami placed a plate of food on the table the pink haired girl thanked her before digging in. As she ate she started to notice that something was off. Pausing her meal she glanced around the room and found that it was odd that her blond teammate was just standing of to the side. "Naruto, you need to eat after all the training you've been doing you need to eat. If you don't you're liable to collapse because your body isn't getting enough energy" Sakura told the blond.

"Hm?" turning his head towards the girl Naruto registered that she was talking to him. Since he wasn't particularly paying attention it took him a minute to put together what she'd just told him. "Oh, well, it wouldn't make much sense for a clone to sit down and eat. Chances are I could pop any second now" the blond told her.

"Clone?" Sakura blinked a few times as she asked. She couldn't believe it, did Naruto really send a clone back to the house sp he could stay out there and train?

"If you're a clone then where's the real Naruto?" Tsunami asked as she brought over a plate she'd prepared for Naruto. Though it seems she'd have to take this plate herself now.

"He probably spent all night climbing trees. I'd say he was probably dead from chakra exhaustion by now but if that were the case his clone would've disappeared with him" Sakura said.

"Yeah, that sounds about right" the clone muttered with a quick nod, choosing to ignore the part about chakra exhaustion.

"Just because he's alive that doesn't mean he's okay" Sasuke commented. Getting up the Uchiha pushed his chair in before heading for the front door. When Sakura asked where he was going the boy responded with "Someone's got to make sure he hasn't gotten himself hurt".

"Ah, hold on a moment" Tsunami told the young Uchiha as she placed her untouched plate of food on the table and then quickly walked over to his side. "I'll come too. The walk should be good for me" Tsunami said as Sasuke looked up at her with an odd look. Though the Uchiha just shrugged his shoulders and let the woman accompany him.

Over the past few days it had felt like a breath of fresh air having Naruto around the house. When ever she'd be confronted with a difficult task he'd be there to lend her a hand and when everything was done she could just sit around and talk with him and Honoka about everything and nothing for hours. The least she could do was take a little stroll to see if he was okay.

Near the location team seven had been training a young woman with long, beautiful black hair sat gathering herbs. She wore a light pink, sleeveless kimono with darker pink trimmings, a black spiral pattern dotted around the garment, and holding it together with an off white obi. As she busied herself a small brown and white bird swooped down and landed on her left shoulder. She smiled at the small creature, but soon it left its temporary perch.

Watching with some amusement as the bird fluttered off the girl was surprised when its path led her eyes to quite the curious sight. Further away laid a blond teen passed out in the grass and covered in more of those birds as the morning sun illuminated the forest floor. It didn't take long for a look of recognition to pass through her eyes as she stared at the boy. The blond laying over there was the same blond who confronted her after she'd put Zabuza into a death like state.

Getting up Haku steadily made her way over to the sleeping teen. Coming to a stop next to him she contemplated what she should do. No was the perfect opportunity to eliminate one of her master's adversaries, while he was sleeping and helpless. Her hand guided her as she knelt down next to him but just as she was about to wrap it around his neck, she stopped.

"You'll catch cold if you sleep here. wake up" Haku softly spoke as her hand moved over to rock his shoulder.

Cracking his eyes open Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Who the heck are you...?" a still sleep addled Naruto questioned. Once his mind caught up with his body the boy realized that he'd been woken up by a pretty girl and with the faintest of blushes he asked "Eh, I mean, where did you come from? You know, what are you doing out here and all that".

"I'm gathering herbs" Haku told him.

"Herbs?" the blond questioned.

"That's right" Haku told him with a warm smile. "They're for treating illnesses and healing wounds" Haku told him.

"That so?" Naruto thought aloud. After a moment of the thought he looked back at the girl and asked "You think I could help?". At first Haku was surprised by the offer but she quickly excepted his help with a gentle smile.

For a while they searched the small clearing, silently enjoying one another's company as the basket Haku brought with her slowly filled up. Every now and then Haku would look up from the grass and glance over at Naruto. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but just being near him like this sent a warm feeling through her body, as if she were wrapped tightly in a thick blanket on a cold and windy night. Was it because she was spending time with someone her own age as if she were a normal person? Well, regardless of the reason she was content with enjoying this feeling while she could.

At some point Naruto turned to Haku and sat down. "You start work pretty early" the blond comment0.

Having noticed him face her Haku had paused in her own herb gathering and waited to see what the blond wanted. After hearing his comment she told him, "I like it early. It's calm but I didn't think I'd find anyone sleeping out here in the woods".

"Hehehe, I'm training!" the blond happily told her. Given the boy's enthusiasm Haku remained silent for a moment as she stared at him with slightly widened eyes.

Eventually the girl continued the conversation, asking "I take it your a shinobi? Because I noticed that headband you're wearing, or are you just making a fashion statement?".

"You noticed that? Alright!" Naruto cheered. Pointing a thumb at his headband the blond continued, "Only a super cool shinobi can wear these".

"Oh really? I see, that's very impressive" Haku said, getting a big smile from the blond as her rubbed the back of his head and chuckled happily at the compliment. "But..." Haku began as her head lowered and she looked off to the side. "Does that mean you're training for something dangerous?" the girl asked.

"Kind of, but it's more about just getting stronger" Naruto responded.

Looking back to the blond Haku asked "You look pretty strong now, isn't that enough?".

"No, no, I need to get stronger and stronger, and I need to keep practicing" Naruto quickly told her.

"How so...? Why is it so important?" Haku asked. She wanted to know what his reasoning was, if it was like hers or not.

Hearing her question Naruto's big grin slowly turned into a gentle smile. He'd proclaimed that he'd become stronger numerous times in his live but hardly anyone ever asked why he wanted to become strong. Even with his family and friends they'd usually just help him out without ever asking why. It felt oddly nice hearing her ask that. "There's a lot I have to live up too, to be strong enough to bare the name Uzumaki, but..." Naruto was telling her as he paused to think about his loved ones, his mother, Ami, Honoka, old man Hokage, aunti Mikoto and Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune, hell even the old pervert. Thinking about all of them it was easy for Naruto to look Haku in the eye and say "Above all else, I want to protect those I love. So that these peaceful days never have to end, If I'm to do that I need to become stronger".

Hearing his reply Haku gave the blond a warm smile. "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful reason. Never lose that will to protect, and I'm sure you'll become very strong" Haku told him as she reached out to grab the handle of her basket. As she stood up she saw the blond grin at her small encouragement. Turning to head back to base the girl said to him "Goodbye, we'll meet again sometime".

As Haku walked away Naruto realized something and called out to her, "Hey wait! I never got your name, mine's Naruto Uzumaki!".

Hearing him Haku stopped. She debated with herself for a moment on whether or not she should tell him her name but ultimately decided there was no harm to it. Turning at the waist she looked back at the blond and told him "My name's Haku".

Even with Tsunami tagging along it didn't take to long for Sasuke to reach their training area. the blond came into view both him ans Tsunami saw Haku walking towards them. As the girl passed them both Sasuke and Tsunami glanced over at her at her.

'Is she new to the area?' Tsunami briefly wondered as she tried and failed to place a name to the girl's face. In a small nation like Wave it wasn't uncommon for most people to have at least heard of the land's other inhabitants, a pretty girl like that would definitely be well known if only as eye candy for the local boys.

"Not dead yet, huh?" Sasuke asked with a smirk as him and Tsunami got closer to him.

"Hm? What would go and give you an idea like that?" Naruto questioned as he folded his arms while still sitting on the ground.

"We just wanted to see if you were alright" Tsunami said, spending most of the statement with her head turned to look over her shoulder at Haku's retreating form till turning to face Naruto just before finishing. "Spending all night out here by yourself, you had us worried" the woman told him with a smile on her face.

"Nah, I only came out here because his mother would've killed me if something happened to him" Sasuke commented as he slipped his hands into his pockets. Even if he was worried about this idiot there's no way in hell he'll just admit it.

"Geez, thanks" Naruto told him with a bit of annoyance in his words.

Seeing this Tsunami couldn't help but smile even more at the scene. Even if everything went wrong tomorrow, they still had these precious moments now.

A little while Later and now it was Sakura and Kakashi's turn to come out looking for the blond, and at this point Sasuke and Tsunami. As Sakura called out for their teammates and Tsunami Kakashi kept up with her, only needing a single crutch to get around comfortably at this point.

"Knowing Naruto he could be anywhere, and even Sasuke and Tsunami are still out here. I wonder where they are?" the pinket wondered at the two of them came to a stop around the area Kakashi brought them for training. As the words left her mouth both her and Kakashi's senses kicked in and their heads jerked forward to see a kunai sailing through the air. Once the projectile landed in the ground between them the pair turned their heads upward to see who threw it.

Sure enough, high in the tree top was Naruto and sitting next to him was... Tsunami!? Right there, high above the ground the woman sat with her arm hugging the tree trunk next to her.

After her and Sasuke found the blond the two shinobi went right back to training, neither one of them wanting to fall behind the other. Since there wasn't much to do today Tsunami stuck around to watch them, marveling at how far they could make it up the tree. At some point, shortly before Kakashi and Sakura arrive, the woman had gotten it in her head that it might be nice to see the world from up there. It took some convincing, even if just a little, to get Naruto to carry her up with him. Despite being scared shitless as Naruto ran up the tree with her in his arms and even to a point now that she was sitting so far above the ground Tsunami couldn't say she regretted her choice. In fact, just beneath that sense of fear was a rush of exhilaration.

"The view's quite nice from up here" Tsunami yelled out to the two as she waved at them with her free arm, not to much though out of fear of falling.

While both Kakashi and Sakura found it impressive that he could not only get himself up that high, but also bring a grown woman with him, Sakura had to at least yell at Naruto for potentially risking the live of their client's daughter.

"Oh come on Sakura, it's fine... see?" Naruto called out with a confident smirk as he let his body fall backwards, keeping his feet stuck to the branch with chakra as he came to stand upside down on the branch.

To no surprise the action freaked out both Sakura and Tsunami. "Naruto! Don't do that! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Tsunami yelled at the blond, both of her hands firmly wrapped around the tree now after feeling like her heart had dropped to the ground. Having her yell at him nearly made the blond lose his concentration and sent him falling to the ground, but Naruto managed to flip himself over to the trunk so he could hold on.

"Eh, sorry" the blond apologized as he tried to focus on attaching himself back to the tree so he wouldn't slid back down.

"You shouldn't worry too much. If he messes up I'll grab him before he hits the ground" Sasuke said from the tree next to Naruto's. Since he didn't have to carry anyone the Uchiha was standing a few branches higher than where Naruto and Tsunami.

"Yeah? I'd like to see you try!" Naruto yelled up at the boy, though Sasuke just shrugged the taunt off.

After making sure that everyone was okay Kakashi and Sakura headed back to the house to leave them to their training, offering to take Tsunami with them once Naruto got her back on the ground. If Tsunami thought it was terrifying going up then she damn near had that heart attack coming down, squeezing her eyes shut so she didn't have to see the ground getting closer as she rode on the blond's back.

Now, another day had come and gone with the sun having set and everyone sitting around the dinner table again, everyone except for Naruto and Sasuke.

"Now they're both late. I wouldn't have expected that from Sasuke" Sakura commented as Tsunami and Honoka placed everyone's plates out on the table. As the teen finished saying this the door behind her clicked open.

Supporting one another Sasuke and Naruto slowly walked in through the open door. Seeing them, Tazuna was the first to say anything. "What happened to you? You look like something the cat dragged in" the old man told them.

Even worn out as they were Naruto had the energy to give a big grin and proudly said "We both made, all the way to the top".

Hearing this Kakashi told them "Good. Now we move on. Starting tomorrow you're both bodyguards for Tazuna". Hearing his sensei Naruto immediately went to celebrate with a big ol' cheer as he tossed his free hand into the air and consequentially sending him and Sasuke down onto their asses. At least his antics got a laugh out of the others.

Once super was finished Tazuna figured now was a good time to address this while everyone was still around the table, and so he began "In a few more days the bridge will be complete. I have you to thank for that, but I've been meaning to ask... why did you stay and protect me even after finding out I lied to bring you here?".

"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice can not survive" Kakashi responded. When he was was met with blank expressions he explained "That was a quote from the First Hokage".

Listening to Kakashi's words and staring at Naruto who was resting his head on the table Inari began to think about his father, about Kaiza, about the advice he told him and about what happened to him at the hands of Gato. As he did tears began to well up in his eyes. Soon they became to much and started rolling down his face before falling and hitting the table as the quietly asked, "But why?".

Not quite hearing him Naruto raised his head. "What'd you say?" the blond asked.

Slamming his hands down on the table the boy stood up, tears silently flowing down his cheeks. "All this stupid training is just a wate of time! Gato's got a whole army, the'll just beat you down and destroy you! These cool things you all say, they don't mean anything! No mater what you do the strong always win and the weak always lose" Inari loudly said as the others watched on.

After the outburst a short moment of silence fell over the room, that is until Naruto spoke up. "Just speak for yourself!" the blond said as he put his head back down in his arms. "It wont be like that for me, you got that!" Naruto told him.

"Why wont you be quiet? Just looking at you makes me sick! You don't know anything about this country, you're just butting in! Always laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt!" Inari yelled, striking a cord with the blond.

Clenching his fists Naruto kept his head down. "Listen to yourself, whining and complaining like some sorry little victim" Naruto said, getting a small reaction from Inari. "You can whimper all day for all I care. You're nothing but a coward!" Naruto told the boy, lifting his head up to look Inari in the eye.

Unable to say anything in return Inari just watched as Naruto got up and left the table.

Sitting out on the edge of the dock running along his house with his knees pulled up to his chest, Inari tried to work out everything that has happened over the last week in his head. He just couldn't understand how someone could keep a smile when faced with someone as powerful as Gato and every time he saw Naruto or the others smiing like that he felt bad about himself because he could.

As he sat there in silence a lone figure came up next to him. Without a word Honoka sat down next to the boy and let her feet hang out over the calm water, her eyes focused on the moon reflected in the night sea. For a while they just sat like that, no words passing between them as they kept their thoughts to themselves.

"He doesn't hate you" Inari heard. Lifting his head up he looked over to Honoka with a curious look. Not once had he heard her say anything since she arrived but surely that voice had to be...

"Your grandfather... told us about your father" Honoka said, her eyes never leaving the moon's reflection. "Naruto also grew up without a father, and his mother was sick for many years after his birth. The village he grew up in, despite the sacrifices that were made on that day, they hold an unspoken grudge against him for the part he unwillingly had during that night. His whole live he's wanted to gain their recognition and protect the few precious people he's found with all his strength. Even so, I've never seen him cry or give up" Honoka said as Inari listened to every word.

"I think... he gave up crying one day and strove to push past all the pain and loneliness... If anyone knows what you're going through, it'd be Naruto" Honoka said. Turning to look at Inari Honoka had a gentle expression as she told him "What Naruto said earlier, harsh as it was, he's probably told himself that a thousand times".

Once Honoka finished the two of them continued to sit there for a while longer, their gazes turning once more to the open sea. After listening to her Inari had a lot more to think about, even if he didn't quite have a conclusion yet.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm back! Here's chapter eight, I hope you enjoy!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Beneath the nearly finished bridge a small wooden boat approached, silently bring Zabuza and Haku to their destination. As the pair neared the bridge the Gato's voice started booming over the radio. "Still wasting time licking your wounds? I hired you to do a job you know! Are you listening Zabuza? Hey-" the short man got out before Zabuza stopped on the device.

"Haku, are you ready?" the man asked his accomplice.

"Yes" the teen answered before both turned their heads to look up at the bridge, the sound of construction work echoing down to the water's surface.

Rushing downstairs, still wearing his grey pajamas, Naruto poked his head into the kitchen to see Tsunami washing dishes. "Where is everybody? Where's they all go?" the blond hurriedly asked.

Pausing in her house work Tsunami raised her head before looking over at the blond. "Oh, Naruto, your sensei wanted to let you rest. You got the day off" the woman told him and watched as Naruto went to run back upstairs.

"Guah! I knew it! They ditched me!" the blond cried out along the way as he pulled off his pajamas while heading back to his room. After rushing to get changed Naruto came running back down, yelling out a quick goodbye as he left through the front door.

Tsunami once more looked over her shoulder, having just missed him this time. With a smile the woman just shook her head and went back to the dishes.

"Hold on, what the heck is this?" Tazuna fearfully asked after he and the others had arrived at the end of the bridge to see his fellow coworkers beaten up and left unconscious. "What happened? Someone was here, someone got to them!" the man yelled out.

'Could it be?' Kakashi wondered, his senses going on high alert as thick mist rolled in. "Sasuke, Sakura, Honoka, get ready!" the man called out to the others as the formed a defensive circle around Tazuna. 'I knew he was alive. He just couldn't wait for round two' Kakashi thought as he waited for Zabuza to make the first move.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi" Zabuza's words called out from the mist before in an instant the group was surrounded by several water clones.

With a smile, Kakashi turned at the hip to look at Sasuke. With the okay from his sensei Sasuke lept into action as the clones came in to kill. With honed speed and skill the young Uchiha slashed threw each and every clone before quickly retaking his place in the formation.

"Oh, so you could see they were water clones?" the group heard Zabuza once more. Looking further down the bridge they saw the man and Haku standing at the edge of the mist. "Looks like you've got a rival Haku" the man said.

"So it seems" Zabuza's young apprentice responded.

For a few moments both parties sized the other up. Eventually, Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "So I was right, it was all an act. I'd bet you've been pulling that trick for a long time" the silver haired jounin said.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke spoke up to gain the man's attention. Once he had Kakashi's eye on him Sasuke made a single request, that he'd get to fight the girl in the mask.

Over with Zabuza and Haku, "He's quite impressive. Even though they were only one-tenth the strength of the original water clone jutsu, he did destroy them all" Haku commented.

"That move still gave us the first advantage. Now use it" Zabuza instructed her, neither agreeing or disagreeing with her comment.

"Right" Haku said before making her approach. With light feet and nimble movements the girl spun her way over to the group, kicking up wind and water in her path. As she got closer Sasuke's eyes never left her form, studying her every movement.

'This is it, this'll be the first real battle I use them in' Sasuke thought to himself as he readied his kunai for the on coming attack. In the back of his mind memories of the passed welled up.

It was late in the day and the skies over Konoha had turned a vibrant shade of orange. Sitting atop a large boulder within an unmarked training group Sasuke was staring blankly at the setting sun, his legs pulled up tightly against his chest. He'd been sitting in this same spot for hours now in an almost trance like state.

"Your mother's been worried about you..." the boy heard from the side. He didn't bother looking though, he already knew who it was.

Climbing up on the rock the young woman with long brown sat next to him, having a similarly saddened expression. She had a small mole under her right eye, wore a long-sleeved, high-collared purple shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, baggy blue pants, a shuriken hostler on her right leg, red armband on her left arm, and a long purple fingerless glove that ran nearly the length of her arm.

For a while the pair sat there in silence. So much had happened and none of it felt real. The Uchiha clan, a powerful clan that had been formed long before shinobi villages had been reduced to a handful of individuals in a single night.

How did this happen? How could it have happened? Why did it happen? These were among many questions those left kept asking themselves. This chain of events stretched back to the night of the kyuubi attack. On that night Kushina had been targeted by a powerful sharingan wielder after the seal holding back the tailed beast had been weakened by childbirth.

Despite the Fourth Hokage's best efforts the man had extracted the kyuubi and placed it under his control before unleashing it upon an unsuspecting Konoha. The village had been left in ruin and many of the shinobi who had been faced the beast and lived placed the blame on the Uchiha. Even after the report Kushina had given, placing the blame on a single rogue Uchiha many of the shinobi held their fear and distrust for the whole clan.

When it came time to rebuild the village many of the clans were moved to different parts of the village. The Uchiha were no different. Although Fugaku had voiced his disagreement the clan had been moved to the outskirts of Konoha. Many within the clan took this as a sign that those in charge of the village had turned against them, a feeling that only grew as time passed.

For years Fugaku struggled to maintain peace between the clan and the village, choosing to believe in the Third Hokage and Kushina to help him heal the rift that had formed. While it couldn't be said Fugaku had support within the clan those who opposed him came to view him as a traitor who let the village walk all over them.

After years of this environment swirling with hate and mistrust things had come to a biol. The rogue faction within the clan waited for their chance and while Fugaku was alone they struck quickly and without mercy. They had thought that the rest of the clan would come to their side once the fighting started. They had been wrong.

By the time the village had sent ANBU to deal with the coup d'etat the Uchiha district had already become a bloodbath. Clan member against clan member, brother against brother, friend against friend, the Uchiha had fought with one another to the bitter end.

Today they'd been informed that Itachi was to be labeled a rogue shinobi for the sake of the village.

"I'll bring him back..." Sasuke eventually said, breaking the silence that had formed between the two of them as they sat their. Looking to her side Izumi saw the young boy staring out into the distance, his fledgling sharingan active. "One day I'll clear Itachi's name and bring him home" Sasuke declared with conviction.

For the first time in days smile formed on Izumi's face as she listened to the boy. "And when you do, we'll welcome him with open arms" the young woman said.

"Those eyes..." Haku commented, her senbon held firmly against Sasuke's kunai as she stared into his sharingan.

"That's right, the blood of the Uchiha runs through my veins" Sasuke told her with a confident grin as brought his kunai back and made an attack of his own. If he was going to bring Itachi back then losing here wasn't an option!

Watching the two clash with one another Zabuza contemplated what their next action should be. They had only planned for Kakashi and the Uzumaki girl, yet this boy not only possessed the sharingan but was matching Haku in speed. "Haku, enough playing around! Finish this quickly!" Zabuza yelled out to the girl.

"Right" Haku responded as she jumped back, gaining some distance from the Uchiha. Coming to a stop she began to build up a large amount of chakra. "I'm sorry it's come to this" Haku told him as the temperature dropped. Forming an odd hand sign the girl began her jutsu, starting from behind the Uchiha the water from the clones started to rise and freeze, forming panels of reflective ice.

Sasuke watched as more and more ice mirrors formed, eventually making adome out of the floating panels. Even with his sharingan, this jutsu was, did this girl posses a kekkei genkai of her own?

Once finished Haku dropped her hands back to her sides and stepped towards the closest mirror as everyone watched. Without hesitation she continued forward, merging into the ice till her reflection was shown on each mirror.

Not willing to leave this to Sasuke any longer Kakashi started to rush over to the boy but was intercepted by Zabuza. "If you enter this fight, you fight me" Zabuza told Kakashi as he stood in his way.

'Not good' Kakashi thought to himself before calling out for Honoka to help Sasuke. With a quick nod the girl started to run for the ice mirrors.

"Are you sure about that?" Honoka heard as she, Tazuna, and Sakura turned around to see a second Zabuza behind the bridge builder. With terror in his eyes Tazuna watched at the water clone swung his sword, only for it to burst into water as golden chains pierced through it. As Tazuna took a few shaky steps back Honoka rushed back over to him.

"The moment she leaves the bridge builder he's dead" Zabuza warned as he held his blade ready. Though it was a bit aggravating to be put in this situation. Originally Haku was suppose to handle the Uzumaki girl while he and Kakashi had their rematch, with the Uchiha boy in the mix now he had to stall for time.

"Now... we'll begin" Haku said as her reflections pulled out senbon in unison. As she began her assault the blinding speed at which the senbon came at him was enough to give his sharingan a challenge. Despite his best attempts to doge and deflect the weapons Sasuke still took several dozen hits as his body and clothes were being shredded by seemingly endless barrage of needles.

"Honoka..." Sakura began as she watched this through the barrier the red haired girl had made. She didn't need to say any more as Honoka shifted the chains around to make a gap for Sakura to exit from.

Rushing out Sakura reached into her pouch for a kunai as she ran for the ice mirrors. "Take this!" the pinket yelled as she lept into the air and tossed the blade at one of the mirror.

Just as it was going to make contact Haku's upper bdy came out of the mirror and grabbed the implement by the handle. Looking over to Sakura Haku silently gave the blade a single twirl before firmly grasping it again. It was a decent attempt to save her teammate, but Haku was simply too fast for something like that to work.

Haku was about to reenter the mirror and continue her assult when a sound, a swirling sound, caught her attention. Jerking her head to the side Haku saw as the shinobi she'd spoken too in the forest ran at her with a clone and a swirling blue orb in his hand. Making a quick jump at the last second the blond thrust his hand out, shouting "Rasengan!" before his attack hit and kicked up a large cloud of dust and debris.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again! Chapter eight is a bit short but I hope you enjoy reading it!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

With several quick slashes the front door, along with a small portion of the wall of Tazuna's house was reduced to small chunks. Clattering loudly to the ground the pair responsible for the damage stood on the other side of the hole with crooked grins on their faces as Tsunami spun around to see them. As the woman stood frozen to the spot the pair of katana wielding thugs walked into the building.

"So you're Tazuna'z daughter, huh?" the shorter of the two asked as the looked the scarred woman up and down. "To bad, but you're going to have to come with us" the man told her.

In the bathroom Inari was busy washing his hands when he heard a loud crash accompanied by a scream from his mother. With hardly a second thought the boy ran out to see what had happened. When he got to the dinning room he saw that the table had been turned over and two of Gato's men had his mother cornered on the other side of the room.

"Mother!" the young boy immediately called out.

"NO! Don't come out here! Run away! Hurry!" Tsunami yelled at the boy with widened eyes after hearing his voice.

"Don't move" the taller of the two thugs ordered the boy as he looked over his shoulder at the doorway Inari was standing in. With Inari being to frightened to run the man turned to his companion, "Should we take this one too?".

"No, Gato asked for just one hostage" the shorter thug told the man.

"Alright..." the taller man said as he turned around to face the kid, bringing his sword up to his chest by the sheath. "Then let's waste him!" the man happily suggested as his hand firmly took hold to the blade's handle.

As the man began to draw his blade with a gleeful grin Tsunami called out for him to stop. After a moment the man glanced over his shoulder, waiting for her to give him a damn good reason to put his sword away. Looking the pair dead on Tsunami began "Please don't hurt my son. I'm begging you, he's just a boy!". With her expression growing more intense Tsunami told them "I'll do anything. Just please don't hurt him".

Hearing her the shorter of the pair smirked. As his companion regretfully sheathed his sword again the man turned to Inari. "Looks like your mom came through for you kid. You're lucky" the man told the boy who was quietly crying and clutching the doorway at this point.

As Inari sunk down to his knees the taller man muttered that it was a waste to just leave him. "Give it a rest, you've already drawn blood today. Forget it and help me get her out of here" the shorter of the two told him as he took a few steps towards Tsunami and grabbed her by the wrist. Turning her around he pulled out a piece of rope and tied her hands behind her back.

"I'm sorry mom... I'm so sorry!" Inari sobbed into his knees as Tsunami was led outside by the two thugs. "What can I do? I'm too weak to protect you... I'm scarred... I don't want to die..." Inari was crying when a single word entered his mind, 'Coward'. Jerking his head up the boy recalled what Naruto, and then Honoka, had told him the night before.

Looking down into his open hands Inari then thought back to the advice his father had given him, "If you really care about something protect it, even if you have to put your live on the line. Protect it with both arms" Kaiza's words rang through his head as he wiped his tears away.

"Can I... can I be that strong too...?" Inari wondered as he thought of his loved ones. Standing up Inari's hands fell to his sides as he looked forward with determination in his eyes.

The men were nearing the end of the dock connecting Tazuna's house with the path heading further into Wave when Inari called out for them to stop. Looking back the pair looked on in amusement as the boy stared them down.

"How cute. You've come to save your mama" the taller of the two snidely remarked after Tsunami called out for the boy to go back to the house.

"You..." Inari said as his hands clenched into fists. "Better leave my mother alone!" the boy yelled out as he started to run towards them.

"Hehe, this kid's a little short on brain" the taller thug commented as he placed his hand on his sword.

"Take him down" the other man said as Tsunami frantically looked between them.

"If you hurt him I swear I'll-!" Tsunami was yelling at them when the shorter of the two thugs whacked her in the back of the neck.

"Shut up and take a nap" the man said as the woman's unconscious body fell the dock. As Inari came in range the two struck out with their swords, each making a single, clean cut as they leaped forward before finishing of the practiced motion by smoothly sheathing their blades.

From behind they heard something fall to the wooden dock, but that sound, that's not a body. Standing up straight the pair looked behind to see a sliced log laying on the dock. "A substitution jutsu...?!" the shorter of the two said, immediately recognizing the technique. Now, the question was who pulled it off.

"The woman... she's gone!" the taller thug said after noticing that Tsunami was missing as well.

"Sorry I was late" the pair heard and their eyes immediately looked up to see Naruto placing Tsunami's unconscious body gently down further along the dock. "Though heroes are suppose to show up at the last minute anyway" the blond said as Inari opened up his eyes to see that he was slung over Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, it's you!" the boy happily said as he turned his head to look at the back of the blond's head.

"Who else?" Naruto asked as he put Inari on his feet. Looking the kid in the eyes Naruto gave him a big smile and told "You did great!". Seeing the confused look on Inari's face the blond told him "When you charged they forgot about you mom for a minute. That gave me the chance to get her away from them". As the blond said this the pair of them looked over to the woman.

After a few seconds a question popped into Inari's head, "Naruto... how did you know these samurai guys were coming here?".

"Oh, that? In the forest I found a boar that had been cut up, the same with the trees around it. When I followed the cut marks they lead me back here" Naruto told him.

"I see" Inari commented just before the tall guy spoke up.

"Blah, blah, it's just one of those useless shinobi Tazuna hired" the man said as he scratched his chest.

"Let's get him" the shorter thug said with a smirk as his companion happily agreed. Even after the pair stared to run at them ready to draw their blades and cut them down Naruto didn't seem to bothered by them. In fact, the blond didn't even bother turning around to look at the pair. As the pair approached two clones burst from the water on either side of the dock, each with a scroll in hand.

Unraveling the scrolls the two clones unsealed their contents, engulfing Gato's men in thick clouds of black smoke. Moving through the cloud both men collapsed upon leaving it, their momentum sliding their bodies within feet of the real Naruto.

"I-I can't... move" the tall guy got out as his body lay there, unresponsive to any command his mind sent.

"What did... you do to us...? What... was in that shit?" the other thug managed to say through gritted teeth, unable to even move his head to glare at the blond.

"I don't know what's in it but I was told that if you inhale that stuff you wont be able to move for days. Something about nerves and muscles but I kind of didn't pay attention to the specifics" Naruto answered the man. Before he had left on this mission Kushina had given him the scroll and made sure that he knew not to open it unless he wanted whoever breathed the smoke in to be out for a long time. She'd kept him their for nearly ten minutes, only letting him leave once she was sure he wouldn't play around with it.

"Damn... you..." the man grumbled as it slowly got harder and harder to even speak.

"Ah! You did it!" Inari happily said as he looked from the beaten thugs to Naruto.

Standing up Naruto put a big grin on his face as he turned to Inari. "You better believe it!" the blond cheered as he pumped his right fist out at Inari.

"Huh?" the blond was still a little odd but Inari couldn't help his own grin from forming. "That was so excellent! Just like a real shinobi!" Inari happily said.

"Hehe, you twerp, I am a real shinobi. That's what I've been telling you!" the blond told Inari as the two of them started to laugh with each other. Once they finished laughing Naruto took the time to tie the two thugs up just in case before picking Tsunami up and walking back to the house with Inari.

The two of them pulled out a spare futon and tucked the woman in. As the finished getting Tsunami comfortable Naruto felt that he should apologize to the kid, however, Inari gave him a blank expression in response. "Well, it was pretty mean of me to call you a coward. It's not true you know" Naruto said as he turned his head to look at the kid and reached out his hand to ruffle Inari's hair a bit. "Cause you were really brave" Naruto told him with a big grin, a grin that quickly turned to a confused look when Inari started to cry again.

"Dang it! I promised myself I wouldn't cry anymore! You're gonna make fun of me again and call me a baby but I can't stop!" Inari said as he tried his best to wipe the tears away.

With an understanding smile Naruto turned his head to look out the window. "What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, resulting in Inari's crying to die down a bit as he gave the blond a confused look. "You're happy... What's wrong with that? When you're happy, it's okay to cry" Naruto told the boy.

"Naruto..." Inari said, letting his tears flow freely.

"Okay..." the blond started as he got up. "I can leave everything here to you without worry" Naruto said as he went to leave when he felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking over his shoulder he saw Tsunami's hand had slipped out from under the blanket to lightly grab hold of him.

When she had woken up to see Naruto and Inari sitting next to her it wasn't hard to piece together what had happened. Even now, she knew where he was going to go, and that more than likely there would be a fight waiting for him. "Do you have to go?" the woman asked him as she looked up into his blue eyes with her own black orbs.

Thinking about it for a moment Naruto closed his eyes as he turned his head to upward. Opening his eyes the blond told her "I'm sure they'll be alright without me... but I can't just sit around while my friends risk their lives".

Understanding what he meant Tsunami let go of his pant leg and watched as he left. Right now there's nothing she could say that would stop him. 'Naruto, be safe' the woman wished him well as he went.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again! I bring with me chapter ten and the fight between Haku, Naruto, and Sasuke. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Running through town as fast as his legs could carry him the sound of Inari's feet hitting the wooden path echoed could be clearly herd. "Naruto and the others are fighting, risking their lives while we do nothing. We've gotta fight too!" Naruto said to himself. He had one goal in mind and he wouldn't stop until it was complete.

"Rasengan!" as the word left Naruto's mouth the powerful attack collided with the ice mirror, tearing through it and hitting the bridge below. It would've taken too much time to reenter the mirror and so to avoid being torn apart Haku leaped forward, rolling out of the way.

"Wh-What in the world was that?" Tazuna asked in disbelieve as they not only saw the destructive power of the rasengan but felt the shock-wave that spread out through the bridge.

"I... I don't know..." Sakura told the man after a moment, her eyes wide at the display. 'Since when, could Naruto do that?' the pinket wondered to herself.

Maintaining the barrier of golden chains around them Honoka looked on with a smirk. When she had met Kushina and Naruto the boy was in the process of learning the jutsu. It took him months but Naruto finally had the ability to use his father's jutsu.

"That jutsu, isn't it...?" Zabuza openly wondered as he watched the dust cloud slowly drift away.

'So, master Jiraiya has already taught him the rasengan. Looks like Sakura and Sasuke are going to have to up their training if they don't want to fall behind' Kakashi thought with a small smile hidden behind his mask. Looking back to Zabuza the silver haired jounin said "I take it this is the first time you've seen the rasengan".

"Why would a brat like that know the Fourth Hokage's jutsu!?" Zabuza demanded as his head shot back around to glare daggers at Kakashi. First it's the other brat who turns out to have the sharingan and now this?

"It's quite simple really, similarly to how the sharingan is Sasuke's birthright it could also be said that the rasengan is Naruto's" Kakashi told him and watched with a bit of amusement as the information sunk in for Zabuza.

"No... It can't be..." the man muttered. 'I had heard that the Fourth Hokage had had a son before he died, that would mean that... DAMN IT! We underestimated those brats!' Zabuza thought to himself before charging Kakashi. If they wanted to make it out of here alive they had to deal with them quickly.

'It's him...' Haku thought as she remained in the kneeling position she'd rolled into, staring at the blond as she recalled their encounter from the previous day. 'That strength... Yes, I can see your determination, your desire to protect those you care for' she thought as she watched Sasuke run out of her ice mirror dome through the opening Naruto had provided.

"So how long have you known that?" Sasuke asked, opting for this over thanking the blond for the save.

Naruto was going to answer that but one look at Sasuke had the blond telling him "What the hell happened to you? You look like you got your ass beat".

"Ghaa, shut it!" the Uchiha told him. Just because he slipped up a little doesn't mean he needs Naruto to point it out.

With Sasuke out of her jutsu there was no longer a need to have the ice mirrors up, they'd just eat away at her chakra if she left them. With a quite hand sign the girl released the jutsu, resulting in the mirrors cracking and falling to the ground before shattering into tiny particles of water and ice.

As the mirror fell down the mist rapidly grew thicker and thicker, to the point that it was difficult to see your own hand in front of your face. 'Zabuza is moving forward with the plan. I mustn't lose ground here' Haku thought as she pulled out more of her senbon.

Moving so their backs were pressed against on another as the mist thickened the two teens scanned the area for any possible attacks. "So, what'd I miss?" Naruto asked as he strained his eyes to see anything at all.

"Zabuza and Kakashi are are facing off while Sakura and Honoka protect Tazuna, but..." Sasuke was saying when his ears picked up on the sound of something cutting through the air. Pushing Naruto down the two of them rolled out of the way as a volley of senbon flew by. "The fake tracker from before is more than just show. She's got a kekkei genkai that manipulates ice and if we're not careful we're dead" Sasuke warned the blond as they laid low.

Looking around Naruto grew frustrated with his inability to see anything. "Ghaa! Then what do we do? We can't even tell were she is" Naruto told the Uchiha as Sasuke continued to scan the immediate aria with his sharingan even if it barely gave him an edge over Naruto in this situation.

'With the mist being this thick the sharingan is useless, and even the most powerful jutsu wont help if you can't hit your opponent' Haku thought to herself as she waited in the mist for the slightest of sounds to tell her where Sasuke and Naruto were. Picking up on the distinct sound of kunai moving through the air Haku pinpointed where the two were. 'Blindly lashing out wont help you' the girl thought to herself as one of the throwing knifes passed by her head.

Moving silently the young woman descended on the two konoha genin who were once more standing back to back. This time they were slowly moving in a circle and throwing kunai out into the mist. 'I'll end this now' Haku thought with senbon in hand as she came up on the pair. Throwing her arms out Haku sent the needles flying, puncturing the two precisely where she wanted.

As the sound of their bodies hitting the floor reached her ears Haku turned to go and help Zabuza. That is until the sound of popping came from their position. 'Clones? A distraction!' Haku thought as she looked back over her shoulder. Moving in time Haku managed to avoid the giant ball of fire that engulfed the immediate area.

After coming to a stop Haku pulled out a single senbon, readying herself for any possible attack they may launch. 'They threw kunai not to hit me, but to lure me into a trap. So, they've already figured it out. We're not using our eyes to fight but our ears' Haku concluded. 'Forgive me Zabuza, I may not be able to help you in your fight' the girl thought to herself.

'Those two should be able to handle themselves, but still...' Kakashi's thoughts went to Naruto and Sasuke as he contemplated what his next move should be. With Honoka's barrier in place Tazuna should be safe from Zabuza attacks, giving him the option of aiding Naruto and Sasuke, but Zabuza would know that. If he just ran off without a plan then he'd risk putting them in even more danger by dragging Zabuza into their fight.

If that's the case he'll just have to finish things up with Zabuza first. Pulling a scroll from on of the pockets on his vest Kakashi tossed it into the air as he swiped a bit of blood from the gash Zabuza had left on his chest from the beginning of their fight. Catching the scroll Kakashi smoothly unraveling it with a swift motion of his hand before smearing his blood along the inside of the parchment.

"Zabuza, I don't mean to spoil your fun, I know how you like to stretch these things out, but how about we put an end to this now?" Kakashi asked into the thick mist as he twirled the unraveled scroll around his body. Finishing up the man tossed the scroll into the air in such a way that it rolled itself up before landing on a hand sign he'd formed. "Come on, what do you say? We're both busy people" Kakashi said.

"Hm, tempting. I'm wondering how you intend to back up such brave words. Show me Kakashi!" Zabuza's voice rang out from the mist.

Taking out another clone Haku was beginning to grow tired of this. After their first plan failed to catch her off guard they had moved on to flooding the area with shadow clones, utilizing the memory transferring ability they had to pinpoint her location every time she fought and defeated one. Every time one popped she'd have to move away quickly before being overwhelmed with many more clones. With all the noise they were making it was near impossible to tell the original from the others. The mist, while it hid her presence, was becoming a hindrance.

As she was working out what her next move should be Haku heard Naruto call out the name of his attack, the one that had destroyed her ice mirror, only this time she heard it from two different sources. Immediately after hearing him Haku was nearly blown over by the shock-wave that escaped the collision. As a result of this shock-wave the mist surrounding the teens was blown back and revealed to Haku what had happened. A short distance away she could two clones, each with its own rasengan. They had clashed their attacks and used the enormous power within that clash to blow away the mist.

"Found you!" Haku heard as the clones around her rushed to her location. She had already been surrounded while this mist was still thick, now that it's cleared there was nothing to stop them from launching a counter attack against her.

Lashing out with senbon Haku tried to take down each clone before it reached her while cutting out a path fro her to escape through. Her plan was working and soon she'd be in a safe position to continue the fight. Just a few more strikes and her opening would be clear, that was until the other boy showed up, having seen through her plan.

"Fire style: phoenix flower jutsu!" Sasuke called out before lifting his hand to his mouth and blowing out several small balls of fire. Weaving them through Naruto's clones the young Uchiha aimed them at Haku.

In order to avoid the flames Haku ran through several hand signs in order to summon forth an ice mirror to use as a shield. While she was save from fire Haku had been left open for the blond's attacks as she had been forced to stop her forward momentum. Spinning around Haku managed to parry the first clones strike and dispelled it but as they kept coming the girl was quickly overwhelmed.

With a left hook from one of the clones Haku was sent flying to the side but was stopped from going to far as another clone slide up under her and kicked her into the air. While in the air more than half a dozen more blonds jumped up after her, repeatedly punching and kicking her between them before finally one of them slammed his fist into her mask and sending her crashing back down to the ground.

Running over to her Naruto reached down to grab her by the back of her haori and flip her over as she pushed herself off the ground, her chipped and cracked mask falling to the ground in the process. 'Zabuza... I've failed you' Haku thought to herself as she watched Naruto's fist come towards her face.

She had excepted her fate, excepted the fact that she couldn't win this fight and that she was no longer of any use to Zabuza, so why? Why did he stop his fist less than an inch from hitting her and why was she so happy that he had stopped?

Pulling his hand back Naruto stared into Haku's eyes as Sasuke ran over to them. "Naruto, what are you doing? Why'd you stop, we have her right where we want her" Sasuke yelled, yet his words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"It's you..." Naruto softly said as he let go of the girl and stood up. This didn't make any sense, how could that kind girl he'd met in the woods be the same masked shinobi helping Zabuza?

Keeping herself propped up on her elbows Haku stared at the blond for a moment before asking him "Why did you stop? Am I not your enemy?".

"Yeah... but..." Naruto responded as he took a step back. As the conversation they'd had ran through his head Naruto dropped down to sit with his legs crossed while scratching his head vigorously. "Ghua! What the hell's going on!?" the blond all put shouted to himself.

Obviously there was something Sasuke was missing as he looked between the fake tracker shinobi and his blond teammate. Glancing up to look further down the bridge Sasuke could see that the mist was still to thick to see past. Kakashi and Zabuza should still be fighting and they should wrap this up quickly so they could go and help their sensei.

Shaking his head Sasuke decided to leave things here to Naruto while he went over to where Kakashi and the others were. 'Don't mess this up Naruto' the young Uchiha thought with one last glance over his shoulder before he entered the thick mist around Kakashi and Zabuza.

"...Zabuza..." Naruto began as Haku watched him get his thoughts together. Looking into the girl's eyes once more the blond asked "How did a guy like Zabuza become so important to you?".

Staring into his eyes Haku started to recall memories from her path, good and bad. "There was a time when I had others who were important to me, my mother... and my father" Haku began, telling Naruto about her parents, the bloodline war that led her father to murdering her mother after finding out about their kekkei genkai, about how she was left a homeless orphan left out in the cold, and how Zabuza had found her and trained her to be his ultimate weapon. He had given her a purpose, a reason to live.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! I bring you all the next chapter!**

 **So we've come to the end of the Wave Arc. I'll be honest, I didn't think it would take this many chapters. Now, before we move on I think it's important that I tell you all that I will not be immediately jumping into the chunin exams. No, first I'll be taking Naruto through a few of the filler arcs and possibly adding some completely original story arcs along the way. I just need to decide with filler arcs I'll be putting before the exams but I have a few ideas on which I'll be doing first.**

 **With that said I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

"...Alright Zabuza, enough talk. It's time to finish it" Kakashi told Zabuza as his summoning dogs held the rogue shinobi in place. "It wont be with sharingan, imitations of some other shinobi's tricks. No. It's time I introduced you too my own jutsu!" Kakashi said as Zabuza glared at him.

Sitting opposite one another the atmosphere surrounding Naruto and Haku was uneasy. The boy had sat and listened to her story, the pain she's had to go through was something Naruto couldn't begin to understand, even if he had suffered because of his jinchuriki status. Even if the whole village had its back turned too him he had always had his mother with him, and over time he had found more and more people to stand by him and share both the joy and sadness of live. Haku though, all she had left in this world was the bond she shared with Zabuza.

Haku watched as the blond stood up and then simply stared when he offered her his hand. "I'd like it... if I could become someone precious too you" Haku heard him say to her. With widened eyes she continued to stare at him as his smile grew.

"But, we are both shinobi, pitted against one another by the paths we've taken. Could you really become precious to someone you may have to kill?" Haku questioned the blond, the small glimmer of hope in her eyes dwindling. It was only reasonable that as long as they worked for Gato that her and Naruto would be enemies. Even if they both made it out of this alive they'd simply go their own ways and more then likely never see one another again.

Shaking his head the blond kept his hand out for her to take. "I don't care about what might happen. If you never try you'll never know what could happen" Naruto told her.

Hearing his words Haku's hand tentatively started to rise up. Reaching out for Naruto's hand Haku's fingertips were just about to brush against his skin when she got a bad feeling. 'I'm sorry Naruto...' the girl thought as she pulled her hand back and quickly rose to her feet. 'I can't except you offer' she thought with renewed determination in her eyes as she ran through several hand signs to create a new ice mirror.

'The mist is clearing' Sasuke mentally commented as he ran through the mist. As he moved forward two silhouettes came into view, one of them moving quickly towards the other. 'That's...' the young Uchiha thought as a flash of gold entered his vision.

In the blink of an eye Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku were left wide eyed as golden chains surrounded them.

'What is this' Kakashi wondered as he looked from a stunned Haku to the summoning scroll riddled with senbon and finally to the chain binding his arm that had kept him from finishing his attack.

'Why did she...?' Haku thought as she looked from the dying chidori in Kakashi's hand to the red haired girl standing off to the side.

"My future's all used up, eh Kakashi?" Zabuza gleefully said as he reached up for his sword now that Haku had gotten rid of Kakashi's summons. However his movements came to a halt as Honoka tightened the chains around him and Haku, binding the two in place.

Kakashi pulled his hand back once Honoka released the chain around it. After taking in Zabuza and Haku's position the man turned to Honoka. "Why did you step in?" Kakashi asked the girl.

For Honoka's part she had the decency to act sheepish once Kakashi asked her that, the cool and collected body language she had a moment ago completely gone. Turning to the man Honoka through her arms up in front of her and began frantically waving them around. She had been content to let Kakashi handle everything but then Haku's chakra showed up next to Zabuza all of the sudden, she got worried and just rushed in without thinking.

"Hey! What's going on?" Naruto blurted out as he ran up to Sasuke who had stopped a few yards away from Kakashi.

"I don't know..." Sasuke told him as Naruto stumbled to a stop next to him. "But it looks like it's over" the Uchiha commented as he watched Zabuza and, to a lesser degree, Haku struggle and fail to get out of the chains binding them. Turning his sharingan off the teen slipped his hands into his pockets as he started walking forward again.

Naruto wasn't sure what had just happened, one minute he was with Haku and the next she's gone. When he went to look for her he finds out that Honoka had everything just about wrapped up. With Sakura calling out to him and Sasuke it seemed to him like everything had worked out for the best.

"Well, well, this is how it turns out huh? Bound up tight by a little girl. Hee, some demon you are" a man's voice said, directing everyone's attention to the end of the unfinished bridge. With the mist completely gone now they could Gato standing their with a cast on his arm and a smug grin on his face as he stood in front a small army of hired thugs.

"Gato, I don't understand. What is this? Why are you here and who are these thugs you've brought with you?" Zabuza question the man.

"Well you see, there's been a slight change in plans" the small man said, tapping his cane against the ground as his smug look stayed firmly in place. "According to the new plan you die right here on this bridge Zabuza" the man tells him.

"What?" Zabuza question as his eye slowly widened. Damn it all! He should've killed the swine when he had the chance.

"That's right, you're too expensive. So I've decided to take you off the payroll. Of course, even these thugs I brought with me cost something. If you could manage to kill off a few of them that'd be appreciated" Gato told him.

Keeping his eyes on Gato Zabuza told Kakashi "It would seem our fight's at an end. Now that we're no longer on Gato's payroll the bridge builder's safe".

"Yeah, I suppose you're right" Kakashi said as Honoka let the two rogue shinobi go, pulling her chakra chains back into her body. Up ahead the silver haired jounin could see Naruto and Sasuke getting ready for a fight with Gato's men. That didn't last very long.

"You two can just stay out of my way" Zabuza said as he walked between the two Konoha genin, getting them to lower their stances as their attention turned to him. "Gato's mine" Zabuza said as his eye narrowed and he took hold of Kubikiribocho.

"Gwauh! That's enough of this, do it!" Gato cired out as he nearly stumbled over his own feet as he turned to hide behind his men. Zabuza made short work of any of Gato's men who stood between him and his goal, cutting them down where they stood. Coming out of the group Zabuza saw Gato running to the end of the bridge.

Turning around Gato was just in time to see Zabuza's blade come up and slash through his chest, sending blood flying. The cut was deep, but not deep enough to kill, Zabuza wanted him to feel every second of this. Re-gripping his blade Zabuza continued to make slash after slash till the short man was barely ably to stand. Gato truly was a pitiful sight and with a single kick Zabuza sent the man plummeting over the side and into the sea below. He'll either bleed out or drown, both were options Zabuza could live with.

Turning back to the group of men Gato had brought with them Zabuza let out a low grunt as he watched them part for him. Taking his time the man slowly walked back to where Haku stood, silently passing by Naruto and Sasuke. "Come on, we're leaving" Zabuza told the girl as he put Kubikiribocho on his back.

With a quick glance to see Naruto staring back at her Haku settled her thoughts. "Yes, let us leave" Haku told the man with a smile on her face. 'Please don't be saddened by this Naruto. Even if this is the last time we ever meet You have indeed become someone very precious to me' Hakuthought as she turned to leave with Zabuza, catching a glimpse of Naruto running towards them out of the corner of her eye as she did.

As the blond was about to call out to the girl the sound of metal repeatedly hitting concrete rang out across the bridge, stopping even Zabuza as he and Haku looked back with everyone else to see one of the thugs with a metal pool standing at the front of the group. "Don't go getting too comfortable" the man said as other soon joined in on his bravado.

"This party aint over yet! Who's gonna pay us now that Gato's gone?"

"No way we're gonna leave here empty handed. So we'll just have to hit that village and see what they've got for us"

"Not good" Kakashi remarked as the group of thugs erupted into loud cheers.

"Zabuza...?" Haku asked the man as he turned her head to look up at him. He could tell exactly what she was getting at just by looking in her eyes.

"Fine, we'll help out a little" Zabuza told her as he went to grab his sword again.

"Get em boys!" the man at the front yelled as the band of thugs ran forward. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the thugs, they didn't get far as a crossbow bolt came sailing through the air to land in front of their charging group.

The thugs, along with everyone else turned their eyes to the far side of the bridge. There Inari stood with his crossbow in hand, Tsunami at his side, and the townsfolk standing at his back armed with whatever they could find and ready to fight for their homes. "There's one little thing you're forgetting about. Before you set one foot in our village you'll have to go through all of us!" a man at the front with a mining axe in hand yelled out, followed by loud cheers from everyone else

"Inari!" Naruto happily called out as he saw the boy.

With a wide grin the boy told him "Heroes arrive at the last second, don't you know?".

Seeing this Tazuna was brought to tears, "They've all come... the whole village".

'Hee, no way I'm going to miss out on all the fun!' Naruto thought as he turned to the already shaken thugs and called forth a small army of clones to face them.

Seeing this along with the villagers and Zabuza getting ready to fight the hired fighters turned tail and ran back to the boat they arrived on as quickly as they could. Some of the men simply dove off the bridge, concluding that the waters below would be safer than staying up on the bridge.

As the villagers started to cheer at their victory Zabuza took his hand off of Kubikiribocho's handle. "What a waste of time" the man muttered.

Just as he and Haku were about to continue on their way Naruto ran up to them. "W-Wait!" the blond all but yelled out as he came to a stop within arms reach of them, breathing a little heavy after the short sprint. After catching his breath the teen held his hand out.

With a bit of surprise on her face Haku stared down at the open hand. Though it didn't take long for a warm smile to spread across her lips as she reached out to take his hand.

'Hm, as kind as ever I see' Zabuza thought as he observed this small gesture.

Zabuza wasn't the only one to see this however. Walking up to them Tazuna was certain he'd kick himself for this later but, "Hey, don't take this the wrong way but you did just get rid of Gato for us" Tazuna said as he walked up to Zabuza, getting his and Haku's attention. "It would be rude of me if I didn't at least offer you a place to rest the night as thanks" the bridge builder told him, trying to hide the chill that ran up his spine as he made this offer to a man who had been gunning for his life just fifteen minutes ago.

After that time went by and the bridge was complete. Zabuza ended up staying longer than just a single night. Everyone except for Naruto were put on edge with him there but eventually they got use to the temporary living conditions. When it came time for Naruto and the others to return to the village their were a few tears shed on both ends during the farewells and it was decided that the bridge would be named 'The Great Naruto Bridge'.

Washing the dishes Tsunami had a small smile as she thought about the blond who had changed their lives. 'I wonder what Konoha looks like' the woman thought with a small chuckle.

"Ghua! You got to be kidding me!" Ami groaned as her and Honoka sat and watched Kushina helping Naruto train in their back yard. She was certain that she'd have a best story to tell about the mission her team went on while he was gone but then he comes back to tell her about what he's been through. "This is soooo unfair!" the girl said, muffling herself by biting into her shirt.

Honoka had been trying to comfort Ami for a while now but there was really only so much she could do in this situation. Maybe she's just out of touch? Or maybe it was just difficult to understand someone like Ami. She really couldn't tell at this point.

"Come on Naruto! You can do better than that!" Kushina shouted at the blond as he tried to stand on top of the small pond they had but ended up falling down to his knees. "I heard from Kakashi that it took you a week to complete the tree climbing exercise, so now were going to get you running on water within three days!" the woman loudly said, having every bit of confidence that Naruto will meet her expectations, even if her constant coaching was ruining his concentration and resulting in him repeatedly falling all the way into the water.

Within a secluded room of the Hokage's tower Haruzen had called in his old teammates along with Danzo, Shikaku, and Inoichi to handle a rather unique case that Naruto had brought before them. Standing in the center of the room was Zabuza Momochi, rogue shinobi of Kirigakure.

Naruto had pleaded with him that Zabuza and his apprentice Haku be aloud to stay in the village. While it would be a large boost to the village to have a shinobi as strong as Zabuza join it's not as simple as saying yes or no. Not only do they have to consider any possible motivation Zabuza may have for joining the village but they also have to consider how such an act would effect their standing with other shinobi villages, especially with Kiri in this case. It was safe to say that they'd be here a while.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello again! I bring you all a new chapter and the start of the cursed warrior arc! Hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

With a loud slurp of noodles Naruto let out a content sigh. "Nothing like Ichiraku Ramen to help you refuel after training!" the blond happily said as the owner of the small restaurant, Teuchi, and his daughter, Ayame, both smiled at his praise. Since Naruto was a little kid he'd been coming here, first being introduced to the ramen shop by his mother. In all those years Teuchi and Ayame have never treated him unfairly.

"Hehe, Always nice to here" Teuchi said as he turned around from stove. "So mind telling us what kind of training Kushina's been putting you through? Past couple of days you've been showing up with wet clothes" Teuchi asked the blond. Despite living for so many years in the villages Teuchi still had a hard time understand even half the things shinobi did but it was still interesting to hear about what they do.

"She's teaching me to walk on water" Naruto told them with a big grin. He just about had it down at this point but Kushina still had him practicing. Before he stopped by Ichiraku's the woman had decided to test his chakra control by throwing tennis balls at him while he stood on the water. Avoiding them was easy enough, for the most part, and his clothes only got wet because of the water that splashed around under his feet. Just the trip over here was nearly enough to dry out his clothes today.

"Walking on water?" Ayame asked with a raised eyebrow. It seemed a little on the unbelievable side but she'd heard of stranger things from shinobi, not to mention Naruto had no reason to lie to them. Resting her elbows on the counter the girl placed her head in the palms of her hands as she kept her eyes on Naruto. "Shinobi sure do a lot of unbelievable things don't they?" Ayame commented.

"You got that right!" the teen told her as he went back to slurping down noddles. He didn't get to much further into his bowl however when he felt a pair of eyes on him and heard someone's stomach rumble. Looking to the side he saw a man with short brown hair, black eyes, and wearing circular glasses poking his head past the cloth flaps.

The man was staring as the blond's bowl intently with a small bit of drool coming out of his mouth. Once he saw that Naruto was staring at him he adverted his eyes, choosing to stare at the ground.

Turning to Teuchi Naruto whispered "Hey, who is that guy?".

Leaning in the restaurant owner told him "Whoever he is he's been lurking there for a while". Hearing this the blond glanced again at the strange man only for said man to duck around the corner. This back and forth of Naruto glancing over at him only for him to duck away continued for a few more times.

Soon Naruto grew annoyed with this and darted out past the cloth flaps to confront the man in the street. "How am I suppose to eat my ramen with you staring like that? If you're hungry go in there and order some!" Naruto loudly told the man, pointing back at the stand as he did.

"Who said I'm hungry?" the man softly asked before another growl from his belly left him with an embarrassed expression. Seeing this seemed to wash away Naruto's annoyance. The man was clearly hungry so Naruto offered to pay for his food, betting it was because of money that he was just standing out here.

Several bowls in and Naruto was starting to wonder what the hell he agreed to. "It's good huh. You want another bowl?" old man Teuchi asked the man to which he happily said yes too.

"Ah brother" Naruto let out with a sigh as he followed his new friend out of the ramen shop. "No, you weren't hungry at all" the blond sarcastically remarked as he closed his now empty frog shaped coin purse.

"I'm sorry. I kind of got carried away there didn't I?" the man apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.

The man was about to offer to pay him back when Naruto cut him off, "Ah, don't worry about it. I was happy to help out". Looking to the man Naruto asked "So anyway, tell me about yourself. What's your name? I take it you're a stranger around here, right?".

"That's right!" the man said, cheering right back up. "I come from the Land of Birds, my name's Chishima. I've traveled here with a mission for Konoha's shinobi" Chishima told the blond.

Giving the man an odd look Naruto told him "I hate to say it but it takes money to get a mission".

Reaching his hand up Chishima began scratching his cheek as he admitted "I just finished paying for it out of my own pocket. That's why I'm totally broke".

"Really? So then this mission must mean a lot to you" Naruto concluded.

With a somber expression Chishima told Naruto "It could mean the difference in life or death for two of my closest friends".

"Life and death? What sort of trouble are they in?" Naruto asked. Seeing that Naruto wanted to hear him out Chishima gave him a warm smile and asked if there was anywhere they could go to talk.

After walking to the nearby park Chishima began his tale as the two of them sat down at a bench. "Sagi, and his younger twin sister Toki have been close friends of mine since we were little, we were raised like siblings. Sagi is now lord of the Land of Birds" Chishima told Naruto.

"If you were raised like siblings then Sagi must be pretty young for a feudal lord" Naruto commented seeing as Chishima couldn't have been too much older than Naruto was.

"Uh, y-yeah" Chishima commented as he turned his head to look at the blond. "Things have been very hard for my friend Sagi recently, first with the death of his father, Lord Owashi, and soon after that he himself was nearly taken by illness. Even now he's still recovering and Lady Toki has changed since then as well. She no longer shows her face in the village and chooses to seclude herself from others. Sagi and I have become worried about her but she refuses to open up even to us. We just... want to see her smile again" Chishima told the blond as he stared up into the sky.

Hearing what Chishima had to say a determined look fell across Naruto's face. "Alright, leave everything to me" Naruto told the man.

Aside from the issue with Zabuza Hiruzen was having a normal day. They still had yet to come to a decision on what to do with the rogue shinobi and for the time they were keep round he clock watch on him and Haku. Sometimes he wondered if Naruto would be the death of him.

"Hey! Old man Hokage!" Naruto al but shouted as he flung open the door and ran into Haruzen's office.

Here they go again. Though at least it can't be any worse then when he brought Zabuza to his attention. "What can I do for you, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked with a grandfatherly smile. He was honestly happy to see the boy, even if he caused trouble for the old Hokage from time to time.

Standing outside the tower Chishima stared up at the building. Since many classified documents and village secrets were kept in the Hokage's tower it was sometimes difficult for even low ranked shinobi to walk through the halls freely. A citizen of a far of nation like Chishima had no chance of just walking right on in and so he waited out here while Naruto headed inside.

"You've picked a good one to have on your side" Chishima heard someone say. Looking to the side he saw Kakashi leaning up against a wall reading a book. After they'd gotten back from Wave Kushina had insisted that she take over Naruto's training for a week or two. It wasn't really a situation in which the man could refuse so aside from the daily missions it's just been him, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"Oh, thank you" Chishima softly said to the man with a hopeful look on his face. He truly wanted to believe that his nations woes could be remedied with the help of Konoha.

"...As it is the amount of money we've been given normally wouldn't be enough. Still, we've decided to sent a team out to investigate this cursed warrior" Hiruzen was telling the blond. Hearing the reason for the blond's visit was a bit of a surprise for the old man. As the man explained the mission to Naruto it brought a small smile to his face when the boy froze up at the mention of a ghostly apparition haunting the land. Even with Honoka living with them it would seem that Naruto still had that childhood fear and memories of him telling a much younger Naruto ghost stories came flooding up to the front of Hiruzen's mind.

"Naruto, I can't afford to send a team of the jounin, or chuunin, and even a team of genin would be to expensive for the Land of Birds to afford right now, so I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to take this mission knowing that you might not get paid" Hiruzen told the boy. Despite his shaking knees Naruto didn't hesitate to except the mission.

"Good to hear" Hiruzen told him. "With that settled I want you to go home and get everything you'll need for the trip. As soon as Neji returns from his mission with Lee you'll be heading out with him and Tenten with Kushina as team leader" the Hokage told him.

"Huh, Neji and Tenten?" Naruto semi-asked with a blink or two. With a big grin forming on his face Naruto happily agreed before running out of the office.

The next day had Neji Hyuuga and his teammate Tenten waiting around the front gate.

"We've been standing here for a half-hour now, when are Naruto and Kushina-sensei going to get here?" Tenten questioned. Tenten was a skilled kunoichi, practicing everyday to become deadly with weapons of all shapes and sizes. Though it would be difficult to haul around hundreds of pounds of weapons so she took to using summoning scrolls. As a result it didn't take long for her and Kushina to cross paths and shortly after that Tenten began fuinjutsu lessons under with the Uzumaki woman.

While Neji had never been taught by the woman he too was familiar with Lady Kushina. Over the years she'd often visit the Hyuuga clan. She had tried and failed to help the branch families discontinue the practice of using the Caged Bird seal but even after the numerous alternatives she brought before the clan many in the main branch were set in their ways and refused to budge on the matter. It was save to say that she was loved more so in the branch families rather than the main family.

"...Here they come" Neji told the girl after a moment. While Tenten had been leaning up against a tree Neji had been standing around staring down the main road. Since he was staring down the main road he was the first of the two to see the two Uzumaki approaching with Chishima.

As they approached Kushina stretched her arm up and waved to the two of them. Since she was going on a mission Kushina had switched out her usual clothes for the standard jounin outfit and her long red hair was now pulled into a long ponytail. "Sorry for taking so long! We decided to stop and get a bite to eat before we headed out and kind of lost track of time" Kushina called out to Neji and Tenten.

As they got closer Naruto went on ahead of Kushina and Chishima, running up to Tenten and Neji. "Hey guys! You excited as as I am? We get to go on a mission together" the blond happily said as he came to a stop next to them.

"It's exciting to be on the same team as Kushina-sensei if that's what you mean" Tenten teased the blond, finding his excitement contagious as a smile crept up on. Naruto may be strong but a mock fight between friends is completely different from a fight out in the field. Her and Neji both planned to keep an eye on the blond and help out if he needed it.

As Naruto started on about how Tenten should be excited with him on the team as well, Kushina and Chishima walked passed the three of them. "Come one, the Land of Birds is pretty far and it's not getting any closer with us standing around" Kushina told the three genin, getting them to quickly fall in line behind her.


	13. Chapter 13

**New chapter time, yeah! Here's some more Cursed Warrior action for you, hope you all enjoy the read.**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

It had taken the group several long days of travel to reach this point but finally their goal was coming within view. By this time tomorrow they should be walking into the capital of the Land of Birds.

With the sun slowly sinking below the horizon they set up camp and got a small fire started. Sitting around the fire they enjoyed each others company while eating, some eating more than other.

"Ah, delicious. Is it all gone?" Chishima asked after wolfing down his fourth bamboo food container.

"You sure eat a lot for being so skinny" Tenten commented as she handed the man another bamboo container full of rice.

"I know. I'm sorry, everyone is always wondering where I put it all" Chishima admitted as he started eating again.

"Hey, by the way, is there really such a thing as the Cursed Warrior? I mean, does anyone even believe he's real?" Naruto asked.

With a bite of food still in his mouth Chishima turned to answer the blond, "Some think it's the disembodied spirit of Sagi's father, Lord Owashi".

"I've never liked that word, disembodied" Naruto said as a chill ran up his spine.

"Well, forgetting the ghost for now why don't you tell us more about the history of your land?" Neji suggested. It wouldn't be good if Naruto was frightened by silly ghost stories before they even arrived at their destination.

"Alright" Chishima quickly agreed, seeing no reason why he couldn't or shouldn't tell them. "It's called the Land of Birds because our capital is built on a lake to which the birds come when they migrate. It's always been a green, peaceful place made fertile by the waters from the lake and canals" Chishima told them.

However, he guessed that they wanted to know more than what a simple pamphlet might explain and so Chishima went on. "The first signs of trouble came with the sudden death of our previous leader, Lord Owashi. As to who would take over the leadership it was between his son, Lord Sagi, and his most trusted adviser, Lord Komei. Lord Komei argued that Sagi was far to young to assume the role and their were many who agreed with him. Never the less Lord Sagi was chosen, largely because Lord Moso, our high priest and my master, agreed to act as regent, advising Sagi and helping him to govern. Then, less than half a year later Sagi too came down with a sudden illness but fortunately he was able to recover and has slowly been regaining his health. Since that time Lady Toki has changed, almost becoming a different person. She has retreated from view and sees no one" Chishima told them.

"It was about that time that the Cursed Warrior began appearing in the capital. Rumors started to spread about Lord Owashi's death, that it was not a natural one. People began to say that the Cursed Warrior was the spirit of Lord Owashi, come back to Earth to seek vengeance on those who murdered him" Chishima then explained how the Cursed Warrior started.

"Hah, I don't believe for one second that this 'spirit' is real" Neji remarked.

"You sure?" Naruto asked as he turned to Neji, a scarred look on his face despite his best efforts to hide it. "It's not like spirits don't exist. Just look at Honoka, she's been dead for years" the blond reminded him.

Turning his attention to Naruto Neji told him "Just because we have one confirmed case of a wandering spirit does not mean that all ghost stories are true. It would be in everyone's best interests if we looked at more reasonable explanations first".

"But-" Naruto was about to start when Tenten spoke up.

"Come on Naruto, Honoka's such a kind and sweet girl. No one would even guess she was a ghost if they weren't told. Are you really going to compare her to this Cursed Warrior guy?" Tenten reasoned. She understood that he was scarred by ghosts and creepy stories but there really was no need to get all worked up this early into the mission.

"Yeah, well... What if... Wh-What if this Cursed Warrior guy is just what ghosts are like when they're after revenge!?" Naruto shot back after taking a moment to think of a reasonable reply.

"Honoka is the only example we have so even if you're right saying it without evidence is just blindly guessing and that's not going to help us" Neji told the blond.

While the three of them were getting into their ghost talk Kushina had just been sitting back and listening in. Ghost stories were fun and all but she had to agree with Neji here, the chances of this Cursed Warrior actually being a spirit were next to none.

"Um, excuse me but who's Honoka?" Chishima's question had the others stop their conversation as all eye landed on him. As their conversation had gotten more and more derailed none of them had stopped to consider that Chishima had never met Honoka.

With a warm smile Kushina reached into her vest and pulled out a picture. Handing it over to the man she told him "Honoka's the girl in the middle".

Taking the photo Chishima looked at the image. In the image he could see Naruto and Kushina standing on either side of a red haired girl as they stood in front of a house. All three of them had wide smiles but Honoka's seemed to radiate pure bliss as she stood there with small droplets forming in her eyes and Kushina's arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"And she's a ghost? She looks like an ordinary girl to me" Chishima remarked as he looked up from he picture.

"Aside from her being a spirit she really is just an ordinary girl" Kushina told the man. Turning her head the woman stared out at the last rays of the sun as she told him "That photo was taken the day she came to live with us. She was so happy that she couldn't stop crying and we all stayed up late just so we could spend more time together. She felt bad about that the next day after Naruto got in trouble for sleeping in class".

"Yeah, she spent hours trying to make it up to me even after I told her it wasn't a big deal" Naruto added, forgetting about this Cursed Warrior fo the time being.

Not much else was discussed about the Cursed Warrior that day. They just finished their meal, talked a little, and then went to bed. Tomorrow the real mission began.

Komei, being a top strategist for the Land of Birds, had a sizable estate. Tonight, like every night he had his personal guard watch and patrol his home, even if there was a boot in men with all the rumors flying around. Stopping outside Komei's room one of the guard reported that nothing out of the ordinary had been spotted.

Sitting up in his futon Komei let the man know that he heard him before telling the man to turn in for the night. After the man left Komei continued to sit there for a while, listening. Soon his ears were met with the sound of moving armor. Reaching for the katana he kept by his futon Komei noticed his door slid open and what he saw was a figure clad in white armor and wearing a demonic red mask.

It was about this time that Naruto and the others had entered the city, running through the streets with the blond carrying Chishima on his back. As the approached Moso's residence an alarm was set off. Coming to a complete stop it didn't take long for them to see part of the cloudy sky being lit up by search lights, and ultimately the ghostly figure floating above Komei's estate.

"Clad in white with a halberd in hand, wearing the mask of an evil demon with eyes of fire... There can be no doubt about it, that's the Cursed Warrior" Chishima said as the group stared at the figure.

"Let's not waste any time, after him!" Kushina commanded the three genin as she took off after the fleeing specter. She was quickly followed after by Neji and Tenten with Naruto falling in line after them once he put Chishima back on his feet.

Following the warrior as he effortlessly moved through the air they were soon led to a small, rundown shrine on the outskirts of the city. Coming to a stop outside the building Kushina put her arm out, motioning the others to stop as well.

"Neji, what do you see?" Kushina asked the teen who had his byakugan active and scanning the area the moment they arrived at the shrine.

"I don't see anyone inside" Neji told her, getting Naruto and Tenten to give the teen odd looks.

"We know he went in there" Naruto told Neji as the boy deactivated his doujutsu. They had been following the Cursed Warrior the entire time without losing sight of him once and they saw him go into the shrine.

"Yes, but there is no human presence in that building. At least not the presence of any living person" Neji said. Even a ghost can be seen by the byakugan, he tested it himself with Honoka's help. It's not the same at a living person but she still has a presence.

"W-What the heck is that suppose to mean?" Naruto asked the Hyuuga as he started to shake.

"Quiet" Kushina told them as her eyes narrowed at the shrine.

Slowly, the wooden doors before them creaked open with the Cursed Warrior appearing from the darkness on the other side.

"Hello, good job Neji! I thought you said no one was in there?" Naruto all yelled at Neji, getting really freaked out now. Even Tenten was beginning to get a little frightened by this turn of events.

"I did" Neji said as his eye narrowed at the spectral warrior as it soundlessly glided out of the shrine and moved over the disused offering box. Activating his byakugan once more at the Cursed Warrior came to a smooth landing at the bottom of the small flight of stairs Neji took in the situation. 'This presence, it's like Honoka's, no, it's much weaker, less... solid' Neji thought to himself as his byakugan scanned their opponent.

"Okay! This is getting way too creepy!" Naruto shouted as he pulled out several kunai and tossing them as the warrior, watching as the being had no reaction to he weapons cutting into its armor.

Leaping forward Tenten pulled out one of her scrolls, unraveling it she bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood before swiping the red liquid across the seal written in the scroll. "Weighted chains!" the girl called out as the weapon came from the scroll. Grabbing the weighted chains by the wooden center Tenten hurled the device at the spirit.

When the heavy weapon clashed with its target the Cursed Warrior's head was knocked clean off. However, being decapitated did nothing to stop the specter as it started to walk towards them, a plum of blue light escaping from where its head was. What did stop it were the golden chains that shot up from the ground around it.

"That's as far as you go" Kushina told the warrior as he was bound by her chains. "Now then..." the woman began with a smirk as her and the others walked up to it, some a little more courageously than others. "What exactly are you?" Kushina asked the thing as she stopped with in an arms length off it. Like with Naruto and Tenten before her the Cursed Warrior seemed unconcerned with her attack, it hadn't struggled even once. The thing didn't talk and without a face it was hard to know if it was even trying to convey something to them.

As Kushina reached out to touch the warrior she, along with the other, was stunned into silence when the light faded and the armor fell lifelessly within her chains.

After a good, long moment Naruto was the first to talk. "Um, is that suppose to happen?" the blond asked as he tried to stop himself from shaking.

With her hand still held out Kushina twitched a little when she heard the question. "No... that's not what's suppose to happen..." Kushina said with a murderous look on her face. Not since she was a little girl has anything gotten out of her chakra chains once bound, this, this would not be aloud to stand!

As the woman tried her best not to lose her cool the other three slowly backed away from the ominous aura coming off of her. Kushina angry was far more terrifying than any ghost.

The next morning had the group following Chishima to Moso's residence, that was except for Naruto. Before they headed out for Moso's Chishima had approached him and told them that Sagi wanted to speak with him personally. So while the others met with Chishima's master Naruto headed for the feudal lord's palace.

Even in a country suffering economically the palace was still a grand building, though it had been built during better times for the Land of Birds. Upon his arrival Naruto was immediately surrounded by palace workers and shuffled along to the audience room. Once there he was seated before the workers turned to Lord Sagi and bowed, informing him that his guest had arrived.

Sagi was a young man a few years older than Naruto with jaw length blackish purple hair and black eyes. "Thank you, you may resume your daily duties" Sagi told them, sending the workers away with pleasant expression on his face. Turning his attention to Naruto the young feudal seemed to smile just a little wider.

"So you're Naruto, Chishima has told me much about you, particularly about how determined you were to help the Land of Birds when you heard of our troubles" Sagi told the blond.

"Huh?" Naruto blinked a few times as he stared at the feudal lord. "Well... yeah. Why wouldn't I want to help someone in need?" Naruto asked the prince as he scratched his cheek. It was weird talking to a feudal lord, but perhaps it's because of his age or the way Chishima talks about him it didn't feel as weird as he was expecting.

"Not many people would be so quick to help a complete stranger" Sagi told him. "We had been banking on Konoha's goodwill when we requested a mission with the little money we could scrounge up, but I hadn't been expecting to hear about someone like you. It brings joy to my heart to know there are people like you in the world" the young feudal lord further told him.

"Ah shucks! You're going to embarrass me if you go on like that" Naruto said with a big grin as his hand moved to rub the back of his head. Being praised by a feudal lord was quite the ego boost for the blond.

"Yes, well, ehem... as enjoyable as it would be to have a long talk with you I'm afraid that's not what I called you here for" Sagi said with a forced cough to clear his throat as a serious expression spread across his face.

"Okay" Naruto began as he leaned forward, "so what did you want me for?" the blond asked when his eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of Sagi getting on his hands and knees and bowing before the blond.

"The Land of Birds isn't as wealthy as it once was and so I haven't the money for a mission, but I beg of you, please look after my sister. The change that's occurred in her has worried me greatly and in these times I fear for her safety" Sagi pleaded with Naruto as he pressed his forehead into the floor. "Please, she means the world to me" the young man said as Naruto watched on, speechless.

Well, Naruto did always want to protect a princes like in the story books his mom use to read to him, what's the worse that could happen?


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again! Chapter fourteen is finished and I hope you all enjoy the read!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

Toki was a fair-skinned woman with long, dark purple hair with bangs cut off at the jawline to frame her face. She wore a traditional multi-layered kimono of different colors. As the woman walked along the wooden walkway lining the palace she felt the wind blow gently through her hair as her dark eyes just stared out in front of her, paying attention to nothing in particular.

"Hey! Toki right?" the woman heard a cheerful voice call out to her. Turning at the waist she saw a blond teen run up to her. "Clad I found you. See, Sagi asked me to keep you safe so I'll b-" Naruto was telling her when she turned back and continued walking.

"Don't bother, I'm perfectly fine on my own" the woman told him as she walked away. Her response was enough to immediately sour Naruto's mood as he started to lightly glare at her back.

"Yeah? Well sorry to break it to you but I don't care if you're fin on your own" Naruto said as he quickly walked forward to catch up with the princess. "I promised to keep an eye on you so were stuck with one another" Naruto told her as he walked by her side, keeping the slightly irritated look on his face as he stared at her.

Glancing to the side with her own irritated expression Toki said nothing as she started walking faster. This started a small cycle of Naruto constantly speeding up to Toki's pace.

Meanwhile, now that their meeting with Moso was over Chishima and the other sat in a small food-stand that served wings.

"The son assumes the throne of his father, advised and supported by a wise second in command. At first glance it looks like a stable government" Neji commented as the four of them sat on their stools.

"What about the rumors that the Cursed Warrior is actually Lord Owashi come back from the grave?" Tenten asked.

"We know that the Cursed Warrior we fought last night was most likely a spirit, but without any more information we can only guess at their identity" Kushina remarked as she bit off a small piece of meat.

"Still, I have my suspicions" Neji said. "If we are dealing with the spirit of the previous feudal lord then why did he pay Komei a visit?" Neji questioned.

"Do you think Komei had something to do with Owashi's death?" Kushina asked the boy.

"If that is true then the illness that nearly took Sagi's live..." Chishima commented, unable to even finish the sentence as his hands clenched into fists.

"Yes, that illness was mostly likely a failed assassination attempt" Neji finished for the man. "Someone isn't pleased with the leadership of the Land of Birds, and Komei looks like the prim suspect" Neji concludes.

Standing up Kushina slapped down their payment onto the counter before turning and leaving the stand. "Sensei, where are you going?" Tenten asked, leaning back as she watched the woman walk away.

"Where else? I'm going to speak with the feudal lord" Kushina told them.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked as he walked beside Toki's carriage along with several of her attendants. It was long after Naruto had started following her around that she had gotten the oxen powered carriage set up so she could leave the palace. As expected of someone charged with protecting her, Naruto followed Toki without question but now they weren't even in the city and instead were traveling down a forest lined path.

Like usual he didn't get any reply from Toki. "Ignoring me isn't going to work forever you know" Naruto told the woman with some annoyance seeping into his voice as he lightly glared at her. The attendants that were accompanying Lady Toki found the boy's attitude towards their princess disgrace, but as someone Lord Sagi personally chose to guard Lady Toki they found themselves in an uncomfortable situation.

The group soon arrived at the Lakes edge, the one that Chisima had mentioned before the arrived in the capital. As one of the attendants informed Toki of their arrival Naruto walked up to the lake and looked around.

"So what is this place?" the blond asked, even if he knew Toki wasn't going to speak to him and for a few minutes that was the case.

Toki let out a small sigh as she watched the blond wander around the shore, though staying close enough to her side. His protection was unneeded, but at least he was something different from her typical day to day live. "When Sagi and I were young we would often come here with Chishima. This place holds many happy memories for me, as I'm sure it does for Chishima and my brother" Toki told the blond.

Turning back to the woman Naruto had a surprised look on his face. His expression was soon split by a big grin as he started to walk towards the oxen carried carriage. "See, is it really so hard to ta-" Naruto was saying when his honed senses flared up, shouting at him that there was danger. "Get down!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to Toki while pulling out a kunai.

The sudden outburst but the attendants on edge and caused them to nearly draw their swords on Naruto, misunderstanding his actions. However, their attention was quickly moved to the lake when the blond deflected several shuriken aimed for the princess.

From the water three swords rose like fins, slicing through the water as the sped towards the group. Once they were close to the shore three individuals jumped out to land on the shore. All of them looked identical with the same blue and grey outfits that left near to nothing of their body visible.

Creating several clones Naruto rushed in to take the trio on. It wasn't a long fight, a few hits from Naruto had them falling back, diving into the lake once more. "Don't think you're getting away from me!" Naruto yelled as he started to chase after them, running along the waters surface. His chase didn't last long when an underwater explosion send a large pillar of water into the air, destroying Naruto's clones and pushed the blond back to the shore.

Coughing up a bit of water Naruto stared out at the rippling lake. Even if he went now he'd probably never find those three on his own. Standing up the blond turned to walk back to Toki, seeing the attendants calming down the oxen that had been spooked by the explosion when he did.

"Toki, you alright?" Naruto asked the princess.

"Yes, I am unhurt" Toki told the blond as she fiddled with one of the shuriken. It had embedded itself in the carriage during the assassins first strike. It was a thin piece of metal with three points on it. As she examined the projectile she briefly wondered what would have happened if it had lodged itself into her neck but quickly dismissed the idea, if anything were to happen to her then it would sadden her brother greatly.

"Yeah, well, that's good" Naruto replied as he watched her toss the shuriken to the ground. It irritated him a bit that she wasn't more grateful but that's just how she's been since the moment he met her. That and she was nearly killed so he didn't want to get into an argument over her gratitude. As her attendants began to guide the oxen back to the palace, finding it far to dangerous to sty at the lake, Naruto reached down to pick up the shuriken. Finding it's shape odd the blond pocketed the weapon, perhaps it'll come in handy later.

Back at the palace Sagi has listening to what Kushina had to say. It was unsettling to say the least. "Lord Komei is one of our most esteemed strategists, and to accuse him of murdering my father... I hope you have evidence to back this up" Sagi told the woman kneeling before him. He had heard the rumors that Lord Owashi's death had been the result of malicious intent but he'd always refused to believe that anyone would want to kill his father, let alone someone like Lord Komei.

"I haven't made any accusations. I'm merely informing you of our investigation o far" Kushina tells the young feudal lord, her eyes never leaving his.

"And you've come to me instead of Lord Moso, wasn't he the one who hired you?" Sagi asked the woman. Sure, he was the one who approved of Moso's plan but in the end it was still Moso who hired them for this mission. When Kushina didn't answer Sagi had to look deep into her eye to get her meaning.

"I see. It's not only Komei you have misgivings with" Sagi said as he closed his eyes. Opening his eyes again Sagi told her "I don't want to believe what you're saying, but if it is true then I want those responsible brought to justice. You have my full support in whatever you ne-" Sagi was saying to her when one of his attendants came running into the room.

"Forgive me for the intrusion my Lord but I must inform you that an attempt on Lady Toki's life was made while she ventured out of the palace" The man started long before he knelt beside Kushina. With widened eyes Sagi immediately rose and ran out of the room, followed closely by Kushina.

"Stop following me" Toki told Naruto as they walked through the palace.

"You still going on about that? I've already told you that-" Naruto was saying as he walked beside her with his arms folded behind his head when the woman cut him off.

"Do you intend to follow me into the bath then? I thought you'd have some decency but perhaps I was wrong" the princess said to him.

With a flushed face at the thought Naruto immediately tried to shake the image out of his head. "Ah, okay, I guess I don't have to follow you everywhere" the blond conceded as his cheeks refused to lose their new red coloring.

"Toki! Toki!" the two of them heard Toki's name being called out. From further down the hall the pair saw an out of breath Sagi running towards them with Kushina easily keeping up with him.

"Sagi, what are you do-" Toki was in the middle of asking the man as he came to a stop in front of her, resting his hands on her shoulder as he made an attempt at refilling his lungs with fresh air, however.

"Are you hurt? Please tell me you are safe" Sagi, still out of breath, asked his sister as he looked her up and down for any sign of harm.

With the first smile Naruto's seen from her Toki removed Sagi's hands from her shoulders. "I am unharmed brother. This shinobi made sure of it" Toki told her brother, looking to Naruto when she spoke about him. "But honestly," Toki began as she looked back at Sagi "you shouldn't be running around with your health".

"That's a relief" Sagi said with a cheerful expression before his attention turned to Naruto. Walking up to the blond Sagi told him "Thank you. If anything had happened to Toki I wouldn't know what to do".

"Well, I am pretty awesome" Naruto said with a big grin.

"Well then, Toki...?" Sagi was saying as he turned back to his sister, only to see that she was much further down the hall now having walked away while he was talking to Naruto. His smile withered slightly at her actions but remembering her smile had the corners on his lips remaining curved upward. It had been so log since he's sen her smile a all. 'Was it because of you' Sagi wondered as he looked back at Naruto.

"I'd like to talk with Toki for a bit, so If you'd excuse me" Sagi told the mother/son pair as he started to walk after the young woman.

As the man walked away Kushina came up to Naruto. "I want you to tell me what happened and don't leave out any details" Kushina told the teen.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again, I bet you weren't expecting me to put up a second chapter today. I just got this chapter idea stuck in my head and so I started writing. Like with Ami's chapter this is about what happened with someone while Naruto was off on a mission and in this chapter that would be Zabuza and Kagura. It's a bit short I'll admit but I wasn't thinking to much about length when I was writing it. I hope you all enjoy!**

 **(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)**

It had been some time since Zabuza and Haku came to Konoha and between the two of them Haku was adjusting far better than Zabuza was. The girl had started walking around the village the day after they arrived, speaking with the people and getting use to the village layout. Zabuza on the other hand, Zabuza spend his days sitting around the small two bedroom apartment they were put into while the village sorted out what would happen to them.

Sitting in a wooden chair, staring at the white wall in front of him the man replayed his first meeting with the Third Hokage in his head.

Walking into the round office behind Kakashi and the blond kid the man watched uninterested as the blond moved ahead of everyone else to great Hiruzen like he'd known the old man his whole life. Without a doubt the Hokage had been informed of their arrival before they'd even walked past the main gate, not only from messages Kakashi most like sent from Wave but by the shinobi on look out. He and Haku had both noticed them, since entering the village they had at least four sets of eyes on them at all times.

Stretching out his senses he could detect five shinobi watching his every move and he was certain that many more were hidden in ways that he couldn't detect their presences. 'They want us to know we're being watched. Hm, if we tried anything now we'd be dead before we made it out of the building' Zabuza thought to himself. He and Haku could take down many of them but they'd quickly be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

As Naruto finished talking to the Third Hiruzen's gaze moved to Zabuza and the moment their eyes met a chill ran down the ex-Kiri shinobi's spine. His eyes betrayed the gentle grandfatherly expression he'd given Naruto. The look he was giving Zabuza, it was the look of a man befitting the title of Kage. They were the eyes of a man who could kill him should he make the wrong move. Zabuza will never forget those piercing eyes.

Nothing of real importance ad been said during that first meeting. The Third Hokage had greeted the two of them, told them that he was surprised by the prospect of having them join the village, and then sent them to this apartment to wait while the real meeting was organized. Even after their next meeting where he's mind had been pried open and picked clean Zabuza had yet to hear an answer.

'I never should have listened to that brat' Zabuza thought as an image of Naruto popped into his head. He got too emotional and bought into a promise that was to good to believe. The village was probably just holding him here while they argued with Kiri over how expensive his corpse was.

Taking a break from his paranoid thought the man tilted his head ever so slightly to the side as he asked, "And just who are you?". Behind the man, sitting on a now open windowsill with her back to the street below was a woman with white hair.

The woman sitting there wore a revealing red outfit consisting of an open vest that cut off just below her large, bandage wrapped breasts, elbow length finger-less gloves with armored plates on the back of her hands, a short shirt over more bandages with the inside being white and the back of the garment being much longer than the front, and finally armored high heels with an armored strap on her left leg that held her ANBU standard short katana. Her wild, white hair was pulled back with a multi-coloured rope with bells attached to it, leaving two bangs to frame her face and ice blue eyes. Above and below her left eye were light pink flower petal tattoos. More of those tattoos were on the left side of her midriff as well as scattered along her left leg.

"You can call me, Kagura" Kagura told the man as a light breeze blew in through the window she was sitting in.

"I'm not interested in pleasant little chats" Zabuza told her. He must be quite the spectacle for one of Konoha's elite to come and pay him a visit.

"That should be fine. I only came by to ask a question" Kagura tells him. When Zabuza made no reply she asked her question "What made you come to Konoha?". "It was Naruto, wasn't it?" Kagura said when her didn't answer her. When Kagura asked her question Zabuza's body tensed up for but a second, but it was enough for her.

"He has a way of doing that and the funny thing is..." Kagura told him as she turned her gaze away from the back of Zabuza's head to the bright blue sky behind her, "I don't think he's even aware of the effect he has on people".

"And I care, because...?" Zabuza asked after a moment.

Hearing him a smirk spread across Kagura's face as she leaned back, keeping herself on the windowsill by holding onto it. "You an I are a lot alike. I wanted to be Hokage, to be the strongest, and like you I didn't care who I had to step on to reach that goal" she told the man. "If it wasn't for him, I probably would've turned against my village like you did as well" Kagura said as she closed her eyes and thought back to the past.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! How can she just refuse me like that? Every single time she waves me away like I'm nothing!" Kagura shouted as she repeatedly punched the tree before her, putting a larger and larger dent into the trunk with each punch. Once again she had approached Tsunade and requested to be her apprentice and like every time before she was turned down without any thought.

Hitting the tree on final time her hand began to tremble with rage as she kept it pressed against the wood. Reaching up with her other hand she removed her ANBU mask and turning so it could stare back at her. 'She's just afraid of my power. They're all afraid of my power! She refuses to train me because they don't want me to get stronger!' the teen thought to herself as her grip tightened on the cat-like mask.

Tossing her mask to the side her attention then turned to the grey ANBU armor she wore. In her anger Kagura began to tear the amror off, starting with her arms and moving to the vest and other segments, tossing them where ever they may land. Soon she was left only in her skin tight black clothes as she fell down to her hands and knees.

'I'll show them, I'll show them all how wrong they were to oppose me!' Kagura mentally raged as her hands clenched her hands into fists around the blades of grass under her palms.

As she wallowed in her emotions she failed to notice a young Naruto walk up to her. It wasn't until the boy's feet came into view that Kagura knew he was there. Jerking her head up she glared at the kid, having nearly knocked him away in the heat of the moment. When she saw his face she instantly knew who he was. Who didn't know who this kid was.

'Damn brat, he's lucky I don't use him for target practice' the woman thought, annoyed that he got this close without her noticing. Damn, she was letting all of this get to her.

After a moment the blond opened his mouth to say something and Kagura waited for what ever stupid shit he was about to tell her. What she hadn't expected was was for him to ask why she was crying. The moment his question left his mouth Kagura's harsh expression softened. Bring her hand up she dabbed a little moisture from her cheek before staring at her hand. When did she start crying?

As she stared at her hand for what felt like eternity Naruto held out a worn handkerchief for her to wipe her tears away, pulling her out of her thoughts in the process. Snatching the square cloth from his hand Kagura sat up and started to wipe her face. "I don't need your help!" the teen told him as she moved from one side of her face to the other with the handkerchief. Even though her tone was harsh it didn't stop Naruto from smiling at her.

After that she got roped into spending the rest of the day helping the blond with his kunai training. She didn't know what it was at the time but something about him just made her smile when ever he was around and soon she found herself following him around and helping him out from the shadows. Even if he hardly ever knew she was watching over him she was content just knowing he was safe.

"If I hadn't vented my anger in the woods that day I probably never would've have met him" Kagura said, smiling as she thought about it. After a moment her smile faded as she sat back up straight. "If I hadn't met him, I doubt I'd still be a Konoha shinobi" the woman admitted.

Looking back over at Zabuza, Kagura told him "If Naruto is willing to put his faith in you then so will I".

For the first time Zabuza turned his head to look at the woman, only for the windowsill to be vacant. "Hm, this village is full of annoying people" Zabuza remarked, the bandage covering the bottom half of his face hiding the smirk he had.

Jumping from roof to roof Kagura had a wide smile on her face. 'You better come back in one piece Naruto. I'll lose my reason to become strong if anything happened to you' the woman thought as she sped along as quickly as she could. Tsunade would kill her if she was late for training.


End file.
